MUW graduates and leaders tell Senate committee the university’s nursing programs are vital to Mississippi’s rural health workforce

Members of a state Senate committee heard nearly hour-long testimony from graduates and leaders of the Mississippi University for Women urging continued support for the institution’s nursing programs.

"The w just didn't teach skills. It taught standards," Katina Holiday said in testimony opening the panel’s remarks, describing how MUW shaped her nursing career, philanthropic work and local health projects. Holiday identified herself as the founder of Holidays Helping Hands and described community initiatives she said grew from her MUW training: an Aberdeen urgent care opened in 2022 that she said treats more than 500 patients per month; a Freshly's Market grocery initiative; the nonprofit Holidays Helping Hands, which she said serves more than 600 unhoused families daily and employs over 250 staff; and more than $100,000 in scholarships to Mississippi high school students.

Why it matters: MUW speakers told the committee that training local students and keeping clinical experiences close to campus helps place nurses in rural and underserved areas. Lawmakers heard consistent claims that MUW graduates remain in Mississippi and boost local access to care.

"The NCLEX pass rate for the past three years for the Mississippi University for Women is 100%," Phyllis Johnson, executive director of the Mississippi Board of Nursing, told the committee, citing board-monitored pass data. Johnson said the board registers roughly 78,000 licensees and highlighted an aging workforce: baby boomers account for about 9% of RNs in the state, Generation X about 38.5% and millennials about 47.9% — a distribution she said creates an urgent need to strengthen the pipeline. She also noted low shares of nurses working in maternal-child health (about 8%) and women’s health (about 1.3%), which she tied to rural access concerns.

Dr. Brandy Lorman, dean of the Vandergriff College of Nursing and Health Sciences at MUW, described program capacity and workforce outcomes: MUW offers ASN and BSN pathways, graduates roughly 120 students per year across those programs, and — she said — about 84% of recent graduates take their first job in Mississippi. Lorman said MUW students provided roughly 160,000 clinical hours last year across about 30,000 Mississippi clients, and the college has launched a federally approved apprenticeship model that pays students while they receive clinical training.

Nora Miller, MUW’s president, thanked legislators and outlined expansion goals. She said the university has received an appropriation tied to Nashoba General Hospital that would create a nursing campus intended to reach about 11 medical facilities within a 45-minute drive of Philadelphia (as described in testimony). Miller framed the expansion as a way to help rural hospitals recruit and retain nurses.

Speakers who addressed the panel included recent graduates and current clinicians: Heather McMillan, who described home-care nursing and medication education for homebound patients; and Dylan Cochran, a recent MUW graduate and former student nursing association president, who stressed MUW’s cohort and mentorship model and the program’s regional clinical placements.

What the testimony did not resolve: Numbers and program outcomes were reported to the committee by speakers and by the Mississippi Board of Nursing during testimony; the committee did not independently verify those figures in-session and no formal appropriation vote on the Nashoba campus proposal was recorded in the hearing.

The committee did not take a formal vote on MUW-specific expansion plans during the testimony portion; lawmakers closed the testimony period and proceeded to other committee business.