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by M. B. Miller

Nursing Program at ALCPIPPA PASSES, Ky. — Administrators at Alice Lloyd College and Eastern Kentucky University are pleased to announce a new partnership that will send ten well-qualified Alice Lloyd students to the university to study in its highly-competitive baccalaureate nursing program. School officials reached the agreement earlier this month.

In this intensive program of study, students from Alice Lloyd will earn both a degree in pre-nursing from the College and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Eastern Kentucky University.

“We are very excited to partner with Alice Lloyd College for this dual degree,” said Dr. Deborah Whitehouse, Dean of EKU’s College of Health Sciences. “The EKU 21-month specially sequenced baccalaureate nursing program is ideal for this partnership. The agreement allots a certain number of program seats to Alice Lloyd students who meet our requirements. ALC will continue to support these students as they complete their degree.”

The program will allow students to complete the general portion of their four-year degree at Alice Lloyd before transferring to EKU to complete the nursing portion of their program. Earlier this year, Alice Lloyd reached a similar agreement with the University of Kentucky College of Nursing, which guarantees admission to two qualified ALC pre-nursing graduates each fall.

Alice Lloyd College’s decision to launch a pre-nursing program was guided by a proposed increase in the need for bachelor degree-level nurses in eastern Kentucky. Demographics have indicated a dramatic shift in the rural Appalachian population from a youth-dominated population to an aging population. In light of these statistics, the need for healthcare providers in the region – a region from which Alice Lloyd recruits exclusively – is sure to grow.

“I think this is a wonderful opportunity for our students in this area to stay close to home and complete a bachelor-level degree in the field of nursing,” said Dr. Claude Crum, Alice Lloyd’s Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “We are proud to partner with Eastern Kentucky University to make this opportunity available to our students.”

Due to the region’s current economic struggles and the continuing decline in demand for central Appalachian coal, the region has seen a significant growth in unemployment. In an effort to retain many of Appalachia’s brightest and best students, the plan devised by Alice Lloyd and Eastern Kentucky University would provide a high-quality education for young people interested in remaining in the region as healthcare professionals.

“We are delighted to begin welcoming these talented students from Alice Lloyd and our service region onto our campus,” Dr. Whitehouse said. “Together, Alice Lloyd and EKU can offer a stellar education for these promising Appalachian students. Once this program is launched, we hope to further explore Alice Lloyd’s interest in other EKU professional programs that might lead to additional dual degrees or graduate health degrees within our Health Sciences College.”

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Alice Lloyd College thanks Eastern Kentucky University for its cooperation with this news release.