Part One

• In the 2024–2025 academic year, Florida was home to 497 prelicensure practical nursing (PN) and registered nursing (RN) programs
• 55.5% of prelicensure RN programs hold nursing specialty accreditation
• The most common reason cited for not accepting more applicants was a lack of qualified applicants
• The second most common reason or not accepting more applicants was limited availability of clinical sites
• Average full-time faculty vacancy rates were reported as:
  • 6.7% in PN programs
  • 8.3% in RN programs offering a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
  • 12.8% in RN programs offering an associate degree (ADN)
• Reported barriers to faculty recruitment include non‑competitive salaries and a limited pool of qualified applicants

Part Two

• Florida once again ranks #1 in the nation for the largest number of NCLEX-RN test takers in 2025, followed by Texas then California
• Across all jurisdictions, 19 of 55 fell below the national average first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate of 86.71%
• Across all jurisdictions, 18 of 54 fell below the national average first-time NCLEX-PN pass rate of 86.59%
• Florida’s NCLEX-RN pass rate for first-time test takers is 81.82%, ranking 47th out of 50 states, above only:
  • Oklahoma (80.47%)
  • Utah (79.12%)
  • Alaska (77.82%)
  • Northern Mariana Islands (77.33%)
  • Virgin Islands (71.43%)
• Florida’s NCLEX-PN pass rate for first-time test takers is 78.56%, ranking 50th out of 50 states, above only:
  • American Samoa (63.64%)
  • Virgin Islands (20%)