{"id":128206,"date":"2026-01-22T20:20:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/128206\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T20:20:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T20:20:55","slug":"gov-desantis-visits-spc-to-announce-nursing-education-investment-st-petersburg-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/128206\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov. DeSantis Visits SPC to Announce Nursing Education Investment || St. Petersburg College"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited St. Petersburg College on Tuesday to announce more than $20 million in funding through Florida\u2019s Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) program, reinforcing the state\u2019s commitment to expanding nursing education and strengthening the health care workforce.<\/p>\n<p>The investment will support student scholarships, faculty recruitment and retention, equipment purchases and enhanced hands-on training at state colleges and universities across Florida. SPC&#8217;s College of Nursing is benefiting from the funding, which helps prepare students for high-demand nursing careers while addressing critical workforce shortages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe stress workforce education tremendously,\u201d said DeSantis. \u201cYou can come to our state colleges and get advanced, hands-on skills that have real-world application. Nursing, in particular, is critically important, and institutions like St. Petersburg College are getting the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Student perspective highlights impact of nursing investments<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gov-krebs-nursing.jpg\" alt=\"SPC nursing student and Student Nurses Association president Kelsey Krebs speaks at a podium while Gov. Ron DeSantis looks on\" width=\"500\" height=\"287\" hspace=\"10\"\/>Student Nurses Association president Kelsey Krebs and Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/p>\n<p>SPC nursing student and Student Nurses Association president Kelsey Krebs spoke during the visit, sharing how tuition assistance has helped her and her peers persist through demanding programs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will be graduating this May, and like many nursing students, I am balancing school, work and family responsibilities while preparing to enter a profession that is critically needed in our state,\u201d Krebs said. \u201cTuition assistance goes beyond tuition, it helps cover essential needs like childcare, transportation, housing and utilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Krebs explained that without financial support, many students are forced to take on additional work hours or loans, increasing stress and, in some cases, delaying or preventing graduation.<\/p>\n<p>State leaders highlight outcomes and workforce impact<\/p>\n<p>DeSantis noted that since the launch of the LINE and Prepping Institutions, Programs, Employers and Learners through Incentives for Nursing Education (PIPELINE) programs in 2022, Florida has invested nearly $500 million in nursing education statewide, helping increase the number of nurses entering the workforce each year. He also pointed to SPC\u2019s strong outcomes, including a 94.1% National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rate, well above the statewide average.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLINE funding helps places like St. Petersburg College better serve working and part-time students while completing high-demand nursing programs and gaining real-world experience,\u201d said DeSantis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited St. Petersburg College on Tuesday to announce more than $20 million in funding&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-128206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}