To say that recruitment and retention of employees in higher education this year was a roller coaster is likely an understatement. Shifts across the higher education landscape created uncertainty in the job market at all levels.
With a recent update from the U.S. Department of Education redefining what qualifies as professional graduate degrees, the nursing profession in particular has taken a direct hit.
As institutions look ahead to 2026, nursing schools face both challenges and opportunities as they seek candidates to fill open academic positions.
2025 Challenges
The year began with significant disruptions in nursing education. Cuts in grant funding forced many institutions to halt or eliminate research positions, while states already facing budget constraints made difficult decisions about public funding for higher education.
At the same time, leadership turnover accelerated. Many institutions turned to interim appointments, hoping the pace of change would slow in the latter half of the year and into 2026.
For academic nursing, these pressures compound a long-standing shortage of faculty. Although demand for registered nurses continues to grow nationally, a limited supply of qualified nursing educators has pushed colleges and universities to explore more innovative recruitment strategies.
There is some encouraging news. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Annual Faculty Vacancy Report, the overall nursing faculty vacancy rate in 2025 was 7.2%, down from 7.9% in 2024.
However, the underlying drivers of the shortage have remained largely unchanged for more than two decades. The AACN identifies the primary challenges as:
- Noncompetitive salaries
- Difficulty finding faculty with sufficient teaching experience
- Limited availability of faculty in certain specialty areas
Salary disparities continue to be a major barrier. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for advanced practice registered nurses is $129,480.
By comparison, AACN reported in March 2023 that the median salary for a master’s-prepared professor in schools of nursing was $93,958.
Academic Nursing Preparation
Many nursing programs rely heavily on adjunct faculty who teach both in clinical settings and in the classroom.
Recent federal recommendations to restructure which degrees qualify as professional degrees threaten to narrow the pipeline further, particularly for nurses who may not be able to afford graduate education at the master’s or doctoral level.
Nursing Specialties Are Growing
Job candidates remain scarce in several nursing specialties, and even fewer nurses are pursuing academic careers in these areas.
Nonetheless, training in specialty disciplines remains essential as workforce needs evolve.
The greatest growth continues to be in Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, including Nurse Practitioners and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists.
Shortages are driven by an aging population, physician shortages, and increasingly complex health care needs.
Specialized fields such as nursing informatics, long-term care, and critical care are also experiencing particularly high demand.
Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Nursing Faculty
So how can nursing programs expand their faculty pipelines? Three strategies are gaining traction:
- Grow-your-own professorship programs
- Investment in nursing career centers
- Targeted use of executive search firms
Grow Your Own Professorships
Grow-your-own programs have proven effective at institutions with strong internal pipelines.
By identifying promising nursing candidates early in their careers, schools can cultivate a culture of mentoring and invest in long-term faculty development.
One example is the Association of College and University Educators’ Nursing Pathway in Effective Teaching Certification.
ACUE is widely recognized for its research-based professional development programs designed to strengthen teaching practices and improve student success.
Nursing Career Centers
Executive search firms have also found success by partnering closely with graduate nursing program career centers.
Deans and directors of these centers are often eager to connect students with academic opportunities, creating early pipelines for future faculty.
Career centers can also introduce undergraduate students to academic nursing as a viable and rewarding career path.
Enhancing Searches Using Executive Search Firms
Executive search firms can play a complementary role by specializing in leadership and discipline-specific recruitment.
These firms track labor market trends, maintain deep professional networks, and develop specialty practices that many institutions cannot easily replicate in-house.
While challenges remain, nursing education continues to adapt.
Through strategic planning, investment in talent development, and creative recruitment approaches, institutions are finding new ways to prepare and retain the next generation of nursing faculty.
About the Author
Andriel Dees, JD, is vice president of executive search for Greenwood Asher & Associates.
