Chamberlain University will open a Nashville campus on Jan. 4, 2027, adding nursing-school seats in a region where healthcare employers say they cannot find enough workers.

The campus will be Chamberlain's 27th nationwide and its first in Tennessee, according to a Covista press release published Sept. 9. Covista is Chamberlain's parent company. Applications opened that same day.

The school will offer a pre-licensure Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) that students can complete in three years. Classes will run day, evening and weekend, with rolling admission up to six times a year.

Students will train in an on-campus simulation center and complete direct patient-care clinical rotations with local health system partners, the press release stated. Chamberlain did not name specific Nashville-area clinical partners.

"Every community has people who want to become a nurse, and a healthcare system that needs more of them, including in Nashville," Amelia Manning, president of Chamberlain University, said in the announcement. "We're proud to add capacity to the region so more people in the Nashville area can become the nurses their neighbors are counting on."

Why it matters locally

A 2022 Tennessee Hospital Association (THA) workforce study found the state faced a shortfall of 15,700 registered nurses in 2021. Even if supply trends continued, the THA study projected a shortfall of 8,500 RNs by 2035.

That report called expanding the worker pipeline essential. "These shortfalls cannot be resolved without beefing up the pipeline because the current and future levels of demand cannot be met without more personnel," the THA study stated.

The Covista Care Capacity Monitor 2026, a research platform using data collected by Gallup, reported that Tennessee had more than three open healthcare jobs for every person looking for one. In Nashville specifically, the monitor found 16 open healthcare positions for every new healthcare graduate, according to the press release. Those figures come from Chamberlain's parent company.

Nationally, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) projected in December 2025 an 8% shortage of registered nurses by 2028. By 2038, HRSA projected a 3% shortage, or roughly 108,960 full-time equivalent RNs, according to its nurse workforce projections.

What the program looks like

Dr. Virginia Ruth Corey, dean of academic affairs for the Nashville campus, said the program emphasizes hands-on training from the start.

"Nashville is one of the fastest-growing cities and healthcare markets in the country, but growth requires talent that is ready to contribute immediately," Corey said in the announcement.

Chamberlain serves roughly 40,000 students across its national network and counts more than 155,000 alumni, including about 750 already living in the Nashville area, according to the press release. The average age of Chamberlain's students is 37, Manning said on the Nurse Converse podcast. Many are already working and juggling family responsibilities.

Manning told Nurse Converse podcast host Jana Price that over 90% of Chamberlain students receive some form of financial support from the university, including grants and scholarships. She also described employer pipeline programs with health systems such as SSM Health and Advocate Health, in which students receive scholarships and loan-repayment help in exchange for working at those systems after graduation.

Prospective students can apply at chamberlain.edu/apply.