Nurses trained here stay here. They staff our local hospitals.
Northern Arizona University was built to serve this region. And right now, meeting Arizona’s healthcare workforce crisis is one of the most pressing priorities we are working to address – because this challenge impacts our neighbors, our economy and the long-term health of every community we serve. NAU has both the responsibility and the ability to train the workforce Arizona needs.
That’s why the recent naming of the Maria and Steve Sanghi College of Nursing is so significant. This milestone is a concrete investment in Arizona’s health future and will allow NAU to elevate its role as a preeminent engine of opportunity – providing access, exceptional education and experiences, and impactful workforce outcomes that benefit our community and our state.
Maria and Steve Sanghi, two of NAU’s most dedicated supporters, have made one of the most meaningful philanthropic commitments in our university’s history. Their gift establishes new resources for academic excellence, career readiness, leadership development and faculty impact. It creates a distinguished deanship to provide sustained, strategic direction for the college for decades to come. And it sends a clear signal: the work happening in Flagstaff is preparing the professionals Arizona desperately needs.
The numbers behind that work are compelling. More than 80% of NAU nursing graduates stay in Arizona after graduation. They go into hospitals, clinics, rural health centers and Tribal communities. They become the providers and leaders who keep our health care system functioning. When we invest in NAU’s nursing program, we are investing directly in the health infrastructure of our state.
But demand has outpaced our capacity. Each year, up to 200 qualified applicants are turned away from NAU’s nursing programs – not because they aren’t ready, but because we don’t yet have the space to train them. This gift, alongside plans for a new 40,000-square-foot College of Nursing facility, will change that. We expect to grow enrollment substantially in the years ahead, dramatically expanding the pipeline of graduates ready to enter high-demand roles across Arizona.
For Flagstaff and the surrounding region, this matters in immediate, practical ways. Nurses trained here stay here. They staff our local hospitals. They serve on Tribal lands, in rural communities and in underserved neighborhoods where access to care has long been out of reach. Every nurse we graduate is one more skilled professional, closing a gap that has real consequences for families.
Healthy communities are the foundation of everything else we want for Arizona – strong schools, growing businesses, vibrant neighborhoods. You cannot build any of that sustainably without a healthcare workforce that can meet the need.
Maria and Steve Sanghi understood that when they made this investment. We are honored by their partnership and their trust in NAU to deliver on this mission. I look forward to continuing to fulfill NAU’s promise to Arizona – beginning right here at home. FBN
By José Luis Cruz Rivera
José Luis Cruz Rivera is the president of Northern Arizona University.
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