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BALTIMORE — Morgan State University’s Department of Nursing continues to distinguish itself as a leader in nursing education, achieving a 100% first-time NCLEX-RN licensure examination pass rate among its 2025 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates and securing its position as a top-ranked nursing program in Maryland for the 2025-2026 academic year. This milestone, validated by the Maryland Board of Nursing in its 2026 fiscal year reporting cycle, reflects sustained excellence in program outcomes and positions Morgan among the highest-performing nursing programs nationally.

According to the 2025–2026 NCLEX-RN Program Report, the complete cohort of Morgan candidates testing during the current academic reporting period passed on their first attempt, outperforming statewide and national averages, which hovered near 87% and 86%, respectively. 

The University’s performance trajectory marks a new milestone for the program, netting a perfect pass rate for the calendar year 2025—a feat the program has neared in recent years, but not matched since it last achieved a 100% pass rate in the fall of 2018. A perennial producer of proficient healthcare professionals, this latest accomplishment reinforces Morgan’s consistency at the highest level of nursing education.

“This achievement affirms the strength, discipline and intentionality of a program that has steadily built toward this level of excellence,” said Kim Dobson Sydnor, Ph.D., dean of the School of Community Health and Policy. “A 100 percent pass rate is not simply a measure of academic success—it reflects the readiness of our graduates to enter the profession at a critical moment for healthcare.”

Morgan’s ascent to the top of Maryland’s nursing programs is based on recent data reported by Mountain Measurement, Inc., a leader in psychometrics, analytics and test development, specializing in nursing education data, specifically NCLEX-RN. For the 2025-2026 academic year, Mountain Measurement ranked Morgan in the 97th percentile among Maryland nursing programs—a competitive field encompassing 31 pre-licensure nursing programs, including bachelor’s and master’s entry-level programs in the state. The achievement, paired with a 100% pass rate, culminates a decade-long transformation. Longitudinal data confirms the program’s evolution from inconsistent outcomes to sustained excellence, establishing Morgan as a premier source for the region’s next generation of caregivers. 

“This moment represents both validation and responsibility,” said Maija Anderson, DNP, APRN, chair of the Department of Nursing at Morgan. “Our faculty and students have worked with focus and purpose to reach this level of performance, but we view it as a foundation—not a finish line. The goal is not only to sustain this success, but to build upon it in ways that further elevate our graduates and the profession.”

Beyond pass rates, Morgan graduates demonstrate strong competency relative to peers. The program’s median overall competency estimate of 0.44 logits —a measure used to assess graduate readiness—exceeds both Maryland and national averages, reinforcing a shared commitment to strengthening advanced clinical reasoning ensuring that graduates are prepared for increasingly complex, high-acuity healthcare environments. 

Morgan’s achievements arrive at a critical moment for the healthcare sector. The United States is confronting a deepening nursing shortage projected to exceed 263,000 registered nurses by 2026, driven by an aging population and workforce. Turnover remains high, with more than one in five newly hired nurses leaving the profession within their first year.

In Maryland, the challenge is especially acute. Hospital RN vacancy rates have reached approximately 16%, and the state is projected to require 13,800 additional nurses by 2035. These shortages are compounded by a growing need for a workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities it serves—particularly in urban centers such as Baltimore, where the population is predominantly Black and increasingly multicultural.

While the national nursing workforce has become more diverse in recent years, it still does not fully reflect the demographics of the communities it serves. Research consistently shows that greater diversity in healthcare improves patient outcomes and reduces disparities, particularly in underserved urban settings.

“Our graduates leave Morgan not only with the academic and clinical preparation required for practice, but with a clear understanding of the communities they will serve—bringing cultural awareness and patient-centered perspective to care that reflects the realities of diverse populations,” added Dr. Anderson.

Morgan’s program directly responds to this need, producing graduates who are prepared to practice in high-demand metropolitan areas and contribute meaningfully to reducing gaps in care.

The NCLEX-RN pass rate builds upon a legacy of excellence that defines Morgan Nursing, placing the program among the few institutions in Maryland to achieve perfect outcomes on the national licensure exam. From community, issues-based research to novel initiatives supporting degree attainment and career advancement, Nursing at Morgan is the exemplar. The program offers the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accredited baccalaureate degree program, advanced degrees at the master’s and Ph.D. levels, as well as an online, accelerated RN-to-BSN-to-MPH —"1+2" program designed to allow registered nurses with associate degrees to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a Master of Public Health (MPH) consecutively.

https://www.morgan.edu/news/morgan-nursing-100-percent-nclex-rn-pass-rate

Fisk University President Agenia Clark on Thursday announced a $900 million plan to remake the historically Black university’s North Nashville campus, complete with a 100,000-square-foot data and technology center.
Details remain limited as the 160-year-old university, once home to civil rights luminaries like John Lewis and Ida B. Wells, embarks on the project, dubbed Quantum Leap. Fisk plans to renovate three residence halls and build at least five major projects: the data center, an annex for the John Lewis Center for Social Justice, a 120,000-square-foot sports arena, a 45,000-square foot student center and an 80,000-square-foot annex to the Carl Van Vechten Gallery.
Fisk is submitting the proposal to Metro for approval, Clark said.
The push comes amid a groundswell of opposition to data centers around the country, with residents expressing concerns about air and water quality, strain on power infrastructure and noise. More than 70 percent of Americans oppose constructing data centers for artificial intelligence in their community, according to newly released Gallup polling.

“If, along the way, we had identified instances where a project of this nature would do harm, we wouldn’t be here today,” Clark told reporters after the announcement, adding that the theme of the project is “do no harm.”

Asked whether Fisk has a partner for the data center, Clark said she is “not in a position to talk about that today.”

Don Hardin, owner of project and construction management firm Don Hardin Group and a partner on the Fisk project, said the team studied the impacts of data centers across the country “because we want to make sure we do it right.”
He said that Nashville Electric Service has assured the group that there is sufficient capacity to handle the data center’s electricity needs without increasing power bills for neighbors. Hardin also said the data center, at 30 megawatts, will be “fairly small” compared to other centers.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we answer questions, make the campus feel comfortable, students feel comfortable and the community feels really good about what we’re doing in terms of noise mitigation, water consumption and energy usage,” Hardin said.
At an event in Fisk’s Jubilee Hall — joined by Mayor Freddie O’Connell, state and local lawmakers, Fisk faculty and students and philanthropic and business executives — Clark said the facility “will adhere to environmental standards, taking advantage of the most current technologies, that will not affect the quality of life for the residents of (ZIP code) 37208.”
Information about the financing of the overall project also remains limited.
“Every single piece of this master plan has a different financial model to it,” she said. “There will be fundraising. I can assure you that.”
Hardin said there is a list of priority projects and that projects will commence “as opportunities come about.” The annex at the John Lewis Center is likely first up and could be complete within two years. He said the data center is not expected to generate the revenue to complete the other projects.

“We look forward to being a vibrant partner to the state, to the city, and more importantly to you, as we strive to assure that Fisk’s history is here to stay, but its future is also an integral part of the city’s next decades,” Clark said.

— a data center is wild