The Higher Learning Commission has approved Salina Area Technical College’s plan to offer an Associate of Applied Science in Nursing program beginning this fall.

The program was approved by the Kansas State Board of Nursing and the Kansas Board of Regents this past September.

This is the second new nursing program started at Salina Tech in the past year. A Practical Nursing program accepted its first class in August of 2018, and 28 students are graduating on May 11.

Becky Claus, Director of Nursing at Salina Tech, said the new nursing program was approved to accept up to 32 students each year, and already several people are in various stages of the application process.

To be eligible to enter the associate degree program, a potential student must already have an active Kansas LPN license and complete 25 credit-hours of prerequisite classes, including English Composition I and College Algebra, plus other requirements. Those prerequisite classes are offered through Salina Tech, and many can be taken online.

Most classes and labs for the program will be in the Braddick Building on the campus of Salina Regional Health Center; use of the building is being donated by Salina Regional.

Salina Tech President Greg Nichols said both nursing programs have received considerable support locally, and there is a growing need for nurses in North-Central Kansas.

Salina Tech was founded in 1965, and now has 16 full-time programs in which students can pursue either a Technical Certificate or an Associate of Applied Science degree. It also offers numerous short-term classes throughout the year.

Forbes Magazine recently ranked Salina Tech as the No. 8 two-year college in the United States, while the D.C.-based Aspen Institute has ranked Salina Tech in the top 10 percent of community colleges nationwide five consecutive times.