Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro visited Temple Women & Families on March 6, 2025, to announce a $5 million investment as part of his proposed 2025–26 budget into the Nursing Shortage Assistance Program, a statewide initiative modeled on the Temple Health Nursing Scholars Program. The program guarantees nursing students a job and repays their student debt while they train at the employer, in exchange for a three-year post-graduation work commitment.
"We're here today because we think Temple can be a model for the rest of the Commonwealth when it comes to how we invest in bringing people into nursing and how we retain our nurses."
Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania
Temple as a Statewide Model
Governor Shapiro highlighted the Temple Nursing Scholars Program as exactly the kind of initiative Pennsylvania needs to scale. In just the first several months of the program, Temple Health received interest from nearly 200 aspiring nursing professionals across 18 partner schools in the Commonwealth, and filled nearly 50 percent of the program's first-year quota, results that Chaudron Carter Short, Temple Health's Executive Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive, shared at the press conference to applause.
"In our budget proposal, we're taking concrete steps to recruit more nurses to Pennsylvania, and to build on our foundation and that of institutions that are doing it right, like Temple. Temple is already doing incredible work in this space; they've started an initiative that we want to emulate and build up all across Pennsylvania."
Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania
"Employers win, because they get a guaranteed workforce of trained nurses that they can rely on. And nursing students win, because they get their costs offset for their education, and they know they have a path to success in a field they love."
Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania
"This Program Has Truly Been A Life-Changer"
One of the students currently enrolled in the Nursing Scholars Program is Maura Cabry, who spoke at the press conference alongside the Governor. Cabry described how the program transformed not just her career prospects, but her entire experience of nursing school.
"For me, this program has truly been a life-changer. It has provided me with the unique opportunity to enter the nursing profession, not just with excitement and enthusiasm, but with a sense of financial peace. The burden of student loan debt is something many of us fear, but knowing that I have a position guaranteed here at Temple, with the added benefit of having my student debt paid back, has completely transformed the trajectory of my career and my life."
Maura Cabry, Temple Health Nursing Scholar
The Urgency Of Acting Now
With an estimated 20,000 nursing job vacancies expected across Pennsylvania by 2026, Governor Shapiro emphasized that the window for action is now. Temple Health's President & CEO Michael A. Young noted that while Temple's nursing turnover is less than half of national benchmarks, the employer is always looking to bring talented nurses into its employers, and the Scholars program is accelerating those efforts statewide.
"I want more Mauras across Pennsylvania. And to that end, we're investing $5 million in my budget to build on the success of what Temple has done here, and to create strong pipelines like this across Pennsylvania."
Josh Shapiro, Governor of Pennsylvania