College of Nursing

With five campuses, the College of Nursing (CON) is the largest of UNMC’s six health colleges and extends statewide from border to ​border. Since 1974, the college added divisions in Lincoln, Scottsbluff, Kearney, and Norfolk.


Collectively, the CON offers the most programs of any other college at UNMC with comprehensive degrees including bachelor's, ​master's, post-master's, doctoral, and continuing nursing education. The CON is the largest of UNMC’s colleges.

U.S. News & World Report Rankings

    • Doctor of Nursing Practice Program is 59th out of 156 programs.
    • The Graduate Online Nursing Program is 79th out of 185 schools.
    • The BSN program is 23rd out of 656 programs.

Since 1917, the UNMC College ​of Nursing has been leading the ​education of nurses in ​Nebraska to produce nurse ​educators, scientists, and ​clinicians, to foster a culture of ​inquiry, discovery, and ​innovation. Our programs were ​built on a strong foundation ​which is evident today in our ​mission to transform lives ​through premier education, ​innovative research, the highest ​quality of healthcare, and ​health equity. These pillars are ​at the forefront of our work as ​we support the growth and ​development of students and ​faculty.


~ Lepaine Sharp-McHenry, ​DNP, RN, FACDONA

The Omaha Division

Established in 1917.

The College of Nursing was constructed in 1974 and dedicated in ​January 1976. The building has 5 floors with a total of 69,100 ​gross square feet.

The Center for Nursing Science was dedicated in October of 2010 ​and provides an additional 43,500 square feet. This was a $14 ​million addition funded by Ruth and Bill Scott.

The Lincoln Division

Established in 1974

  • A new building opened in July 2018.
  • The $41.5 million building project is home to the UNMC College of Nursing's Lincoln Division and UNL’s University Health Center in a combined ​structure of about 100,000 sq. ft.
  • The Nebraska Legislature provided $12.5 million in funding.
  • It replaces the college’s former location in downtown Lincoln.
  • The facility provides medical, dental, and physical therapy clinic areas and the infrastructure to accommodate contemporary health care ​technology.

The West Nebraska Division

Located in Scottsbluff. Established in 1988.

  • The classroom, clinical skills laboratories, and staff are located at the Western Nebraska Community ​College John N. Harms Advanced Technology Center.


  • Faculty offices, an assessment lab, and a patient simulation suite are housed at the Regional West ​Medical Center.

The Kearney Division

Established in 1993.

The original Nursing Department Building

on the UNK campus.

The Health Science Education Complex (HSEC) opened on the ​University of Nebraska Kearney campus in 2015.

  • Construction of a $19 million Health Science Education building at UNK was completed in Kearney in the summer of 2015. Construction began ​in April 2014.
  • The 48,500-square-foot building opened for its first students in the fall of 2015.
  • The new facility provides space for the expansion of College of Nursing programs, brings new UNMC programs for physician assistants, ​physical therapists, medical nutritionists, medical laboratory scientists, radiographers, and diagnostic medical sonographers to the UNK ​campus, and facilitates the education of current UNK students.
  • The building contains 7 classrooms and accommodates up to 300 students. The facility also includes labs and clinical simulation areas and in ​the fall of 2015 had 46 faculty and staff members.
  • The health science education building expands nursing and allied health education in central Nebraska.
  • In the fall of 2023, construction began on a $95 million Rural Health Education Building that will feature state-of-the-art classrooms, extensive ​simulation and clinical skills laboratories for pre-clinical education and complex clinical scenarios, and simulated primary care spaces. In ​December 2023, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved naming the building the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education ​Complex. Kristensen served as chancellor of UNK and has been an ardent champion for greater Nebraska, especially in building the health ​sciences workforce that is needed to keep the communities across the state vibrant.
    • The building will be located directly north of the Health Science Education Complex and will stand three stories tall and occupy 110,000 ​square feet.
    • It will allow UNMC to expand the presence of its allied health and nursing programs in Kearney while launching new programs to train ​physicians, pharmacists, and public health professionals.
    • The targeted completion is late 2025, with occupancy in early 2026.
    • More than 300 students will be able to enroll in the newly expanded programs beginning in the fall of 2025, using existing UNK facilities ​until the new building opens.
    • Targeted renovation is also planned for the Health Science Education Complex, which will provide expanded anatomy, rehabilitation, and ​musculoskeletal labs.
    • When fully operational, the Rural Health Education Building and existing Health Science Education Complex will support about 240 local ​jobs and have an annual economic impact estimated at $34.5 million.

A rendering of the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education ​Complex set for occupancy in 2026.

The Northern Division

Located in Norfolk. Established in 2010.

  • Located on the Northeast Community College campus.
  • The 43,747-square-foot facility, the J. Paul and Eleanor McIntosh College of Nursing was completed to house UNMC’s bachelor of science in ​nursing, master of science in nursing, and doctoral degree programs.
  • Cost $12.9 million
  • The Norfolk community raised $11.9 million in private funds, including a capstone gift from Norfolk philanthropists J. Paul and Eleanor ​McIntosh for more than $1 million.