Community colleges can help fill California’s need for more nurses now | Opinion
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- California faces a projected shortfall of 65,000 registered nurses by 2037.
- AB 1400 would let 10 community colleges pilot BSN programs at low student cost.
- The bill expands local nursing pipelines, reducing costly reliance on travel nurses.
When Madera Community Hospital closed its doors, the Central Valley region felt the devastating impact of a healthcare system stretched too thin. Patients were forced to travel farther for care, and hospitals across the Valley scrambled to fill the gaps of care. This crisis highlighted a deeper problem — California is not producing enough nurses from the communities that need them the most.
The nursing shortage is not an abstract problem. It is placing the public’s health at risk, raising costs, and straining hospitals across the state. By 2037, California will be short 65,000 registered nurses, according to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. Inaction will mean fewer nurses, longer wait times for care, more strain on hospitals, and higher healthcare costs for everyone.
To top it off, the Trump administration remains laser-focused on gutting federal funding from our institutions of higher learning, and our entire public education system as a whole. If we don’t act now — this will get worse, before it gets better.
Assembly Bill 1400 is the solution. It creates a pathway for community colleges to train and graduate more local nurses—nurses who are far more likely to remain in the communities where they grew up. They could then provide care to families and neighbors who need it most.
By reducing dependence on traveling nurses and expanding affordable, high-quality nursing programs close to home, AB 1400 helps prevent the kind of crisis we witnessed in Madera from happening again. It would also come to the rescue of southern California hospitals as well.
Over a dozen areas identify as “Health Professional Shortage Areas” (HPSAs) in San Bernardino County alone. AB 1400 allows San Bernardino community colleges to be a part of the solution in continued partnership with California State University San Bernardino.
Students in the Inland Empire are underrepresented, they come from low-income families, or they’re student parents who face significant financial barriers in pursuing higher education.
AB 1400 offers an affordable option for aspiring nursing students in California’s desert communities. This nursing education bill is crucial, as it would allow more students to stay in their communities, and earn a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) at the same time. In turn, they avoid high costs of living elsewhere, and the higher costs of attending a university.
The problem is not a lack of qualified students who want to become nurses.
California’s community colleges already produce outstanding nurses through their Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs. However, hospitals increasingly require nurses with a BSN degrees, citing research that shows better patient outcomes when more BSN-prepared nurses are at the bedside.
Here’s the issue: our current education system is not producing the nurses we need.
AB 1400 authorizes up to 10 community college districts to pilot BSN programs, graduating as many as 2,000 new nurses in just 18 months. These high-quality programs will be rooted in local communities, at no additional cost to the state. The pilot program includes oversight, evaluation, and a sunset date to ensure accountability and results.
AB 1400 would neither replace nor compete with CSU or UC nursing programs. It complements them by expanding the number of pathways available to students. Today, CSU and UC campuses can accept just 10 percent of applicants. In 2023, UCLA and UC Irvine admitted only 118 nursing students out of 11,776 applicants. Community college BSN programs can help close that gap.
Here’s why AB 1400 is the right solution for California’s nursing crisis:
Cuts costs: On average, students would pay about $10,000 for a community college BSN, compared to four times that at a CSU/UC, and more than $100,000 at private universities.
- Expands the local workforce: Hospitals spend unsustainable sums on more than 13,000 traveling nurses annually, sometimes paying four times more than local hires.
- Proven success: 24 states already allow community colleges to offer baccalaureate programs and more than half of those, including Florida, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, and Washington, offer BSNs.
- Reflects California’s diversity: A representative nursing workforce builds trust, improves cultural competence, and leads to better outcomes, especially in medically underserved regions like the Central Valley and Inland Empire.
California cannot afford to wait. AB 1400 offers the most practical, cost-effective solution. The bill has been approved by the Legislature. We urge the Governor to act now — so that no communities experience what happened in Madera, and every Californian has access to the care they deserve.
Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria, D-Merced, represents California’s 27th Assembly District, making up parts of Madera, Merced, and Fresno Counties.
State Sen. Eloise Reyes, D-San Bernardino, represents California’s 29th Senate District, encompassing California’s greater Inland Empire region.
State Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, represents California’s 31st Senate District, including parts of the Inland Empire, including Riverside.
This story was originally published September 14, 2025 at 6:00 AM.