Alcorn State University’s first doctoral program will launch in the fall.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has accredited a doctoral program in nursing practice at the Mississippi HBCU.
The new program will be offered as a full-time progression option to graduates of Alcorn State’s family nurse practitioner master’s program. Students will take courses on health policy, evidence-based practice, healthcare systems, quality improvement and evaluation-of-practice models during five semesters of continuous enrollment.
Dr. Donzell Lee, Alcorn State’s interim president, said the new degree “represents a milestone achievement in Alcorn’s 148-year history.”
The program “will significantly enhance our mission and catapult Alcorn to a new level of leadership in higher education,” Lee predicted. “It will greatly expand our consistently successful efforts in producing healthcare professionals with the knowledge and character required to positively impact the communities we serve and beyond.”
Dr. Debra Spring, dean of the School of Nursing, said the new doctoral degree program “is possible thanks to the hard work and dedication of a number of individuals at all levels of the university.”