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Community colleges are key to training future nurses hospitals desperately need

April 18, 2026

California is turning away thousands of qualified future nurses each year, even as demand for care continues to surge. The shortage of nurses is not an abstract workforce issue. It is a matter of patient safety, affecting hospital capacity, emergency response times, and the quality-of-care Californians receive every day. Without action, this gap is projected to grow significantly in the coming years. State leaders must prioritize investment in community colleges to sustain a steady pipeline of well-trained medical professionals essential to keeping Californians healthy.

State workforce projections estimate the state could need tens of thousands of additional nurses in the coming decade, while hospitals and clinics are already struggling to fill critical roles. Yet even as this need grows, California is turning away thousands of qualified students who are ready to enter the field. One of the most effective solutions already exists: community colleges that train the healthcare professionals who keep our medical system running.

Community colleges train the majority of California’s entry-level healthcare workforce, including nurses and allied health professionals. From registered nurses and radiologic technologists to EMTs and patient care providers, these programs provide a direct pathway into essential, well-paying healthcare careers.

Yet there is a critical gap between student demand and available program seats. Each year, thousands of qualified applicants are turned away from nursing programs, not because they lack ability, but because colleges lack the capacity to train them. The problem is multifaceted, with issues including the need for more healthcare-specific classroom space, modern clinical training sites, qualified instructors, and clinical placements. All of this requires additional funding. In the most recent data available, only about one-third of qualified applicants were admitted to nursing programs statewide. At a time when providers urgently need more workers, capable students are left waiting for opportunities that may never come.

The affordability of community college programs makes this gap even more consequential. At about $46 per unit, students can complete nursing training at a fraction of the cost of many private programs, which can exceed $50,000 a year. Yet higher cost does not mean better outcomes. Nursing students at public institutions have an average first-time licensure exam pass rate of 88 percent, compared to just 68 percent at for-profit institutions.

Graduates of Chaffey’s nursing program perform even better, with recent first-time NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) pass rates exceeding 95 percent. When students are shut out of community college programs, they are often pushed toward more expensive options with lower success rates or forced to delay entering the healthcare workforce altogether.

Across California, communities are investing in expanding healthcare training facilities at their local colleges. At Chaffey College, voter-approved funding is supporting new workforce training facilities, including expanded health sciences space at the Chino campus to increase hands-on training opportunities. These investments are essential to preparing more students for careers in critical healthcare roles, but they also highlight a larger reality. Facilities alone cannot solve the capacity constraints limiting healthcare training programs.

Healthcare training programs also need qualified instructors. While our instructors are second to none, we could use more. Students also need hands-on training through clinical placements in hospitals and healthcare settings. So even when colleges have the facilities, expanding enrollment to support the demand for qualified nurses and techs requires earmarked funding for the faculty, partnerships, and operating support necessary to sustain high-quality programs.

If California is serious about addressing healthcare workforce shortages, expanding capacity at community colleges must be the centerpiece of the solution. With targeted investments in faculty recruitment, clinical training partnerships, and program capacity, the state can prepare more nurses, technicians, and first responders while opening doors to life-changing careers for thousands of students ready to serve their communities.

California must ensure colleges can accept and train the students who are ready today, rather than turning them away.

Henry D. Shannon has served as superintendent/president of Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga since 2007.

Orange County Register

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Community colleges are key to training future nurses hospitals desperately need

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