Whitworth and Washington State Universities Expand Partnership to Meet Workforce Needs in Spokane’s Health Industry
Whitworth has had an existing partnership with WSU’s College of Nursing that has greatly benefited both institutions and students. They’re now expanding that relationship to offer students who qualify guaranteed seats in several additional graduate programs.
Under the new enrollment agreements, Whitworth will have 10 percent of its seats in its physical therapy and occupational therapy doctoral programs reserved for qualified WSU applicants. WSU will hold the same number of reserved seats for qualified Whitworth students wanting to enroll in its pharmacy, nutrition, exercise physiology and coordinated dietetics programs. Spots will also be secured for Whitworth students when WSU offers its new master’s degree in nursing in spring 2026.
“These new enrollment agreements build on more than a half-century of Whitworth and WSU partnering academically,” says Mike Ediger, dean of Whitworth’s School of Health Sciences. “They will definitely help to facilitate a smooth transition for more students to our outstanding master’s and doctoral level programs.”
“I am proud to build on this long-standing institutional partnership that supports the growth of our healthcare workforce in Washington,” said Daryll DeWald, executive vice president for WSU Health Sciences and WSU Spokane chancellor. “It is through this kind of collaboration that we can address the gaps in care faced by our communities.”
The institutions have a common goal of creating a generational campaign that begins with the recruitment of high school students and ends with job placements in the region.
“We want to recruit local high school students into our undergraduate majors and then show them there are direct pathways to complete a graduate degree in Spokane,” Ediger says. “Our alumni are going to both graduate and professional programs all over the country, which is great! But we’ve got fantastic graduate programs here in the region as well, and we want more students to be able to take advantage of these opportunities. They don’t have to leave!”
To learn more about Whitworth’s School of Health Sciences, click here.
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About Whitworth University:
Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private, Christian liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university has an enrollment of about 2,500 students and offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
About Washington State University Health Sciences:
WSU Health Sciences comprises the educational, clinical and research activities of Washington State University’s three human health colleges: the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, and the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Headquartered on the WSU Spokane campus, WSU Health Sciences serves over 1,400 students across 14 undergraduate, professional and graduate programs at five campuses statewide.
Contacts:
Trisha Coder, associate director of media relations, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or tcoder@whitworth.edu.
Chantell Cosner, director of marketing and strategic communications, WSU Spokane, (509) 368-6671 or chantell.cosner@wsu.edu.
