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So why do nurses go back to school in the fall? Their reasons tend to cluster into a few consistent categories:
- Higher earning potential: There is a meaningful gap between average LPN and RN pay, and advancing a license is one of the clearest ways to close it.
- Scope-of-practice limits: Some clinicians reach the ceiling of what their current license permits and return to school to expand their scope.
- Career ladder progression: Many entered nursing in a supporting role based on what they could afford at the time, and moved up as time and resources allowed.
Program availability supports this steady demand. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), there are currently 701 RN-to-BSN programs, with 90,369 enrolled students. These programs enable RNs with Associate Degrees in Nursing (ADNs) to earn Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees.
Also, there are 155 RN-to-Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) programs nationwide for RNs with diplomas or ADNs who want to earn a master's. According to the latest figures available, these programs have 8,130 enrolled students and 2,352 graduates.
These numbers demonstrate that a significant portion of the nursing workforce is pursuing BSN and MSN degrees, not a handful of individuals.
How nurses going back to school affects your staffing
When nursing staff return to school, your schedule feels it in 2 ways. Some clinicians leave their positions to enroll in full-time programs, which creates outright vacancies. Others cut back on their hours.
Hybrid programs for working nurses combine online coursework with in-person clinicals, allowing many clinicians to keep their jobs while working reduced hours instead of resigning.
The benefit is that you keep the part-time clinicians’ nursing experience. The drawback is that you lose some of their availability. That trade-off is the real staffing impact of nurses going back to school, and it is what causes many nurse staffing gaps in the fall.
With experienced nurses reducing their hours for school, you are left to maintain safe nurse-to-patient ratios amid increased shift gaps.
Permanent hiring is slow. According to the article The Cost of Nurse Turnover in 10 Points | 2026, recruiting a new RN can take between 56 and 102 days on average. Filling every gap with full-time hires limits your flexibility when census shifts.
There is a continuity cost as well. The clinicians reducing their hours are the ones who know your patients, your unit, and your workflows.
Replacing these clinicians, shift by shift, with strangers is harder than keeping them engaged on a lighter schedule. The goal is not to backfill a departure but to bridge a temporary gap.
How to plan for this pattern before the semester starts
Unlike a sudden call out or a census spike, the fall enrollment dip arrives on a schedule. Because the timing is predictable, you can prepare in advance rather than react in the moment.
So, how far in advance should you plan for fall staffing gaps?
Ideally, you should plan for gaps before enrollment opens, which for most facilities means late summer. A proactive staffing strategy turns a yearly scramble into a routine, and each fall will become easier than the last.
Use block scheduling for part-time staff
Block scheduling for part-time nurses restructures clinicians' reduced hours into predictable, repeating blocks. You know exactly when nurses work, and they get the flexible scheduling that keeps school and shifts from colliding.
This is also the cleanest way to cover shifts when nurses reduce hours, because a fixed block is easy to build coverage around.
Build your PRN bench before the semester starts
Do not wait for the gap to appear before seeking coverage. Building a PRN bench ahead of the fall semester means engaging trusted per diem clinicians early, so support is lined up the moment staff hours drop.
Nursa's PRN platform has a Favorites List that lets you flag top-performing clinicians. With Auto-Schedule, you can fill shifts quickly with clinicians from that list.
Think of it as a type of float pool for seasonal staffing gaps that you assemble on purpose rather than improvise under pressure.
Using PRN staffing can also be a retention move. Retaining nurses who return to school in part-time roles, supplemented by per diem clinicians, is how you maintain more consistent staffing in the long-run.
Post recurring shifts quickly
Once you name the pattern—say, a nurse dropping to 1 or 2 shifts a week for the semester—you can turn that recurring need into posted shifts fast.
NIA, Nursa's Shift Creator, converts a recurring gap into posted shifts in seconds instead of making you fill out months of individual shifts by hand. That speed also helps with short-notice shift coverage for nurse absences when a class schedule changes mid-semester.
Does the demand for per diem nurses increase in the fall?
There are 5,014,171 registered nurses (RNs) and 921,696 licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPNs/LVNs) nationwide, according to The 2026 NCSBN Environmental Scan: Evidence in Action Report.
A significant number of these nurses go back to school in the fall to pursue new educational goals, which negatively impacts healthcare staffing.
The fall nursing staffing shortage aligns with the academic calendar, so it follows a regular pattern that facilities and schedulers can anticipate. This allows them to proactively address staffing gaps with reliable coverage.
This article provides an overview of the fall nursing staffing dip and tools to help schedulers, directors of nursing, and managers overcome the shortfall.
Why nurses go back to school in the fall
The back-to-school season affects the entire nursing workforce, not just registered nurses. LPNs and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) enroll, too.
Demand for PRN nurses usually climbs in the fall. Part of that stems from staff heading to class. Part of it tracks the season, as cooler weather brings the usual wave of respiratory illness and higher patient volume.
That combination is what a PRN bench is designed to cover. When you have a Favorites List of clinicians ready, as fall semester shifts open, you can cover nurse shifts effectively without overloading your core staff.
Book PRN nurses to do the following:
- Fill shift gaps left by trusted staff who had to reduce their hours but will eventually return.
- Schedule experienced nurses to cover vacancies while facilities seek out new permanent staff—with less pressure.
- Source local talent unavailable for full-time positions, but looking for contract work.
- Avoid overburdening full-time staff with excessive overtime, which increases burnout and turnover rates.
The broader nursing shortage context
The fall back-to-school dip exacerbates the existing nursing shortage, driven by an aging population and a wave of retirements among experienced nurses.
Replacing a single bedside RN is costly, which is another reason retaining your student nurses beats constant rehiring.
According to the article The Cost of Nurse Turnover in 10 Points, the average turnover cost for an RN in 2025 was $60,090; each 1% change in RN turnover can cost or save the average hospital $295,000 per year.
Plan ahead for this fall's staffing dip
Are you still wondering, "How can I keep my facility staffed when nurses cut hours?"
The best staffing strategy for your facility is to act before the fall semester begins. By building a strong bench of PRN clinicians, using block scheduling for nurses who reduce their hours, and quickly creating shifts with NIA Shift Creator, you can coast through the fall staffing dip.
The best time to build your PRN bench is before the semester starts, not after. Our per diem staffing solutions page covers how to get set up.
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