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About the College of Nursing

The College of Nursing originated in 1889 as the Cincinnati Training School for Nurses under the auspices of the Ladies Board of Managers. The school became an integral part of the Cincinnati Hospital in 1896, and eventually was accorded the rank of a professional school of the College of Medicine. In 1916, the educational program was reorganized to include collegiate courses in addition to the three-year hospital-based program. This resulted in a five-year combined baccalaureate program which granted the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and the college became one of the first two baccalaureate programs in nursing in the United States.

In 1938, the program was changed to a four-year baccalaureate program of general and professional nursing education, and became the eighth college of the university. The college was one of the charter schools to be accredited by the National League for Nursing Education. The school was given the name - College of Nursing and Health, University of Cincinnati, in 1942. The graduate program leading to the Master of Science in Nursing degree was established in 1956.

In 1947, the Jane E. Procter endowed Chair of Advanced Nursing Education was established. A second endowed chair, to be occupied by the dean of the college, was established through the auspices of the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Fund in 1966.

In 1968, the College of Nursing and Health occupied William Cooper Procter Hall, the first independent facility on the university campus dedicated to the education of practitioners of nursing. The college celebrated its centennial during the 1988-89 academic year.

In January 1990, the Ohio Board of Regents approved the implementation of the doctoral component of the Graduate Program at the College of Nursing and Health leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). In 1999, the name of the school was changed to the College of Nursing.