DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference at a college in Florida on Tuesday morning, where he discussed future funding for successful nursing education initiatives in the state.
He was joined by Florida Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. and State University System of Florida Chancellor Ray Rodrigues.
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The conference was held at Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, where DeSantis touted Florida’s progress in strengthening its nursing workforce through the Prepping Institutions, Programs, Employers, and Learners through Incentives for Nursing Education (PIPELINE) Fund and the Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) Fund.
He said these initiatives “aim to increase the number of nurses entering the workforce by encouraging collaboration and enhancing the performance of nursing education programs.”
As part of his goal to make Florida the leading state for workforce education by 2030, DeSantis recently allocated $130 million to the PIPELINE and LINE programs in the Focus on Florida’s Future Budget.
“Florida is addressing the nationwide demand for qualified nurses through smart investments in workforce and nursing education,” DeSantis said. “These two programs are producing results, which is why I will support their full renewal in the upcoming fiscal year.”
Diaz, Jr. praised the programs, stating, “Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida’s investment in high-quality nursing programs is paying off. The PIPELINE and LINE programs are strong incentives for public-private partnership and because of them, we are seeing record numbers of enrollees and completers.”
In the 2023-24 fiscal year, DeSantis said 7,498 students completed a nursing program, the highest number in three years.
From 2021 to 2024, “enrollment in Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) programs at Florida College System institutions that received LINE funding increased by 25 percent and the number of ASN program graduates in those colleges also rose by 24 percent,” the news release stated.
Local 10 viewers can watch the news conference in the video below.