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Muhlenberg clears a degree path for nursing students

Muhlenberg College in Allentown
Donna S. Fisher
/
For LehighValleyNews.com
This is a statue of John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg in front of the Haas College Center at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Picture made in March, 2023.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Muhlenberg College announced its second academic partnership with Villanova University on Wednesday.

This partnership will allow Muhlenberg prehealth students to earn a second bachelors in nursing at Villanova’s M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing in an accelerated time frame. Villanova has agreed to accept at least five Muhlenberg students per year, according to a release from Muhlenberg.

  • Muhlenberg College prehealth students can now earn an accelerated bachelors degree at Villanova University's M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing
  • The program will take 14 or 23 months after the student's graduation from Muhlenberg
  • This is the 16th agreement of its kind at Muhlenberg

The prehealth program is a preprofessional track at Muhlenberg, of which there are prehealth and prelaw.

Students on a preprofessional track at the school can receive “guidance at every step of the process: selecting appropriate and challenging courses, gaining relevant experience outside of the classroom, preparing for professional school admissions tests and applying to specific programs,” according to the college’s website.

"This new agreement with Villanova Nursing offers an excellent opportunity for our students interested in this essential profession.”
Kathleen Harring, Muhlenberg College president

The college boasts that over the past eight years, 87 percent of all graduates from the prehealth program who applied to medical school were admitted. The website also states that there are over 350 students on the prehealth track. Muhlenberg has just over 2,000 students.

“Prehealth has long been an exceptionally robust program at Muhlenberg,” said Muhlenberg College President Kathleen Harring in a release. “Our students acquire strong critical thinking, problem-solving and communication skills, which make them valued candidates for these vitally important fields.

This partnership with Villanova is the 16th of its kind at Muhlenberg, spanning degree opportunities in health, business, public health, law, theology, engineering and more. The other Villanova program is a partnership between Muhlenberg and the Charles Widger School of Law, where students can graduate with a bachelors and a JD in a six year program. That program was instituted in 2019.

“We take seriously our commitment to guide each of our students as they move toward their personalized career goals. This new agreement with Villanova Nursing offers an excellent opportunity for our students interested in this essential profession,” said Harring.