2026 Nursing Education Report

1. National enrollment trends

AACN's Fall 2025 survey of 998 schools of nursing (89.5% response rate) found enrollment increases across most baccalaureate and graduate program levels. Entry-level BSN enrollment reached 283,303 students, up 7.6% (19,830 students) — the third consecutive year of growth in these programs after a small dip in 2022. AACN does not publish an all-program growth rate; the figures below are the program-level counts the association released on 7 May 2026.

Degree-type enrollment (Fall 2025, AACN member and responding schools offering baccalaureate and higher degrees):

Source: AACN, “Schools of Nursing See Enrollment Increases Across Most Program Levels,” 7 May 2026, covering the 2025–2026 Enrollment and Graduations survey. aacnnursing.org press release. RN-to-BSN enrollment remains below its 2018 peak of 139,587. PhD enrollment is down 20.8% since 2013 (from 5,145). ADN and LPN/LVN census figures are omitted; AACN’s survey covers baccalaureate and higher programs only.

2. First-time NCLEX pass rates

The national first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate for U.S.-educated candidates was 86.7% in 2025 — 167,272 of 192,916 testers (NCSBN 2025 Examination Statistics, Table 1). That is down from 91.2% in 2024 (170,256 of 186,760). The 2025 BSN-only first-time U.S.-educated rate is 87.6% (87,814 of 100,258); that is a degree-type slice, not the national first-time rate.

Programs with consistently high NCLEX outcomes (≥90%) share several characteristics: low student-to-faculty ratios (≤8:1 in clinical settings), mandatory NCLEX prep integration into the final semester, and high-fidelity simulation labs accredited by SSH or INACSL standards. School-level first-time rates are published in our CC BY table — that table is not a substitute for the NCSBN national first-time figure.

First-time, U.S.-educated NCLEX-RN candidates for U.S. licensure. Sources: NCSBN 2025 Table 1 and NCSBN 2024 Table 1. Individual program rates: /nclex-pass-rates.

3. The nursing faculty bottleneck

AACN’s AY 2025–26 Faculty Vacancy Survey (863 schools; 80.3% response) counted 1,588 full-time vacant positions and a 7.2% overall vacancy rate, down from 7.9% and 1,693 vacancies in the 2024 survey. Of those vacancies, 80.9% required or preferred a doctorate. Among schools that reported no budgeted vacancies, 150 schools still said they need additional faculty — that is 150 schools, not 150 positions.

In 2025, nursing schools turned away 93,176 qualified applications (not unique applicants) because of insufficient clinical sites, faculty, preceptors, classroom space, and budget cuts. The 2024 total was 80,162 applications. Breakout for 2025: entry-level BSN 75,255; RN-to-BSN 1,066; master’s 6,496; DNP 9,859; PhD 500. Noncompetitive salaries were the most critical recruitment issue for 33.7% of responding schools (291 of 863).

AACN reports mean faculty ages by rank rather than a single average: professor 60.2, associate professor 55.0, assistant professor 48.9. Policy responses include:

• Federal Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) — loan forgiveness for graduates who teach.
• HRSA Nurse Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention (NEPQR) grants.
• Clinical faculty models: practitioner-professors who maintain clinical hours alongside teaching.

Sources: AACN Survey on Vacant Faculty Positions for Academic Year 2025–2026; AACN 7 May 2026 enrollment release (applications turned away).

4. Accreditation landscape

CCNE and ACEN are both recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. CCNE accredits baccalaureate, master’s, DNP, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs; ACEN accredits nursing programs from practical/vocational through clinical doctorate. Confirm a program’s current status with the accreditor before applying — directories change when programs are placed on warning, probation, or withdraw.

See our accreditation guide for how to verify a program's accreditor status before applying.

5. State-level NCLEX data

State-by-state first-time NCLEX pass rates belong with the board publications they come from. NCSBN Table 1 is the national first-time U.S.-educated rate (86.7% in 2025). School-level rates compiled from state boards are in our CC BY dataset — use that table to compare programs, not as a substitute for the national NCSBN figure.

Interactive school table: /nclex-pass-rates.

6. Methodology and data sources

• NCLEX pass rates: NCSBN 2025 NCLEX Examination Statistics, Table 1 (U.S.-educated first-time RN); 2024 brief for the prior-year comparison. 2025 PDF · 2024 PDF.
• Enrollment and applications turned away: AACN 2025–2026 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, summarized in the 7 May 2026 press release. Counts are applications, not unique applicants.
• Faculty vacancies: AACN Survey on Vacant Faculty Positions for Academic Year 2025–2026 (published 2025).
• School-level NCLEX: state board of nursing publications compiled at /nclex-pass-rates.

All statistics are sourced from primary documents. No data is estimated or extrapolated beyond what sources publish. Unknown values are left blank rather than approximated. See our full editorial methodology.