For one student at Chamberlain University’s new Cincinnati campus, the first month brought a feeling she hadn’t experienced at another school: being “genuinely cared for,” executive campus director Priya Shastri said.
Shastri said seeing faculty become personally invested in students during the first month has been one of the standout experiences since the campus opened.
Chamberlain University's new Cincinnati campus welcomed its first cohort of nursing students on Aug. 31, adding a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program to the region as Greater Cincinnati faces a steep healthcare workforce gap.
The campus at 5905 E. Galbraith Road is Chamberlain's 25th nationwide. It offers a three-year BSN with evening and weekend scheduling, no prerequisite coursework required and six enrollment windows per year, according to the university's campus page.
In a statement published in Chamberlain's newsroom at the August opening, Shastri said closing the region's nursing shortage would take every program in the market working toward the same goal.
The shortage is real. Greater Cincinnati employers posted nearly 50,000 open healthcare jobs last year, and there are six open positions for every graduate coming out of local programs, according to the Covista Healthcare Workforce Index, a 2026 report from Covista, Chamberlain's parent company. Nationally, 76% of clinicians said staffing shortages are compromising the quality of care they deliver, the same report found.
Chamberlain also launched a $150,000, three-year partnership with The Health Collaborative to fund healthcare career exploration at youth centers across Cincinnati. The investment breaks down to $50,000 per year and targets middle and high school students, according to a Sept. 15 announcement. Tiffany Mattingly, chief engagement officer at The Health Collaborative, said the funding would help create hands-on experiences and connect students with pathways into healthcare.
Cincinnati resident Damenika Jacobs received the school's inaugural Future Healthcare Hero Award, a full-ride BSN scholarship, at the campus opening. Three more full-ride awards are open for applications from U.S. residents pursuing a nursing degree at the Cincinnati campus.
