Loyola Nursing to launch summer institute

The Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing is launching a summer immersion program to support students who face barriers to success as they transition into the school’s rigorous, top-ranked undergraduate program.

The inaugural Ascend into Nursing Conway Summer Institute will be held in July, hosting as many as two dozen Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students at Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus. The weeklong immersion will offer supplemental preparation for first- and second-year BSN students from Loyola’s Arrupe College, incorporating evidence-based strategies to boost academic performance.

It will also help participants, most of whom are first-generation college students, develop a peer support network and a sense of belonging—both powerful predictors of student persistence.

“Ascend represents our commitment to making sure Loyola Nursing students from all walks of life have the skills they need for success and know they belong here,” said Dean Lorna Finnegan. “We’re ensuring that all our students have the confidence they deserve as they enter and progress through the nursing program.”

A landmark gift

Ascend is the newest offering in Loyola Nursing’s CARE (Collaboration, Access, Resources, and Equity) Student Success Program, which aims to boost student retention and graduation rates. The Institute is being launched thanks to a two-year, $750,000 investment from the Bedford Falls Foundation, through its donor-advised fund.

The gift includes significant scholarship support and funding for CARE’s operational costs.

“Loyola-educated nurses will go on to serve Chicagoland communities and beyond. We are pleased to support these students and the initiatives that will help them find success in the program and ultimately their nursing careers,” said Bill Conway Jr., who established the Bedford Falls Foundation and Bedford Falls Foundation-DAF with his late wife, Joanne Barkett Conway.

The Bedford Falls Foundation is committed to removing financial impediments to nursing education and reducing the nursing workforce shortage. The gift will also provide scholarships and operational funding for CARE.

The Arrupe-to-Loyola Nursing Pathway

Ascend will support current students and recent graduates from Loyola’s Arrupe College, a two-year associate’s degree program that helps students graduate with little to no debt. Most Arrupe students come from underrepresented backgrounds and are first-generation students; many need extra academic and socio-emotional support as they navigate college.

Twenty-five Arrupe students and graduates are currently enrolled in Loyola Nursing through an Arrupe-to-Nursing Pathway that allows them to earn their associate’s degree and BSN in five years.

During their second year at Arrupe, students take entry-level BSN courses while completing their Associate of Arts. The following year, they enter Loyola Nursing as full-time nursing students and complete the last three years of the BSN program

Navigating the transition

It’s a bridge model that has shown early promise: The first two Arrupe-to-Nursing graduates are now employed as registered nurses and passed their licensure exams on their first try. Many current students are excelling in their coursework and clinicals.

But the first years of the program showed that some students need additional help in transitioning from Arrupe’s small, intensely supported program into the nursing school. Arrupe is located in downtown Chicago at Loyola’s Water Tower Campus; classes are held in a single building where students have access to free breakfast, lunch, and a food pantry. Faculty and staff work closely with students and provide services including counseling, access to social services, and career guidance.

The move to Loyola Nursing requires Arrupe students to independently navigate a new campus, larger classes, and a more traditional college experience.

“The change can be overwhelming,” said Janie Ortiz, CARE director. Through Ascend, “we’re making sure Arrupe students are set up for success. They’re meeting their teachers and peers in the nursing program before they set foot in a classroom. When they start in the fall, the culture shock won’t be as intense, and that’s going to be really helpful for these students.”

Strategies for success

During Ascend, students will stay overnight in Loyola’s dorms and learn how to navigate the Lake Shore Campus, from finding dining halls to the nursing simulation labs. They’ll also take what Ortiz described as one-hour daily “crash courses” in either anatomy or nursing-focused chemistry, depending on their year in the program.

“When I talked to Arrupe students, they would tell me, ‘I never took anatomy in high school. I’ve never heard some of this vocabulary,’” she said. “Our science faculty will give them a brief introduction to the concepts and terms they’ll be learning in their nursing classes, so they’re starting the academic year on a firmer foundation.”

Ascend will also give undergrads a set of tools to help them learn and navigate Loyola’s academic, financial, and wellness resources. Participants will learn test-taking and study strategies specific to nursing education, as well as note-taking systems and calendar development.

“These are skills that many people take for granted, but Ascend participants, like many first-generation students, may never have been exposed to them before,” Ortiz said.

The program will also focus on professional formation to help students begin thinking of themselves—and acting—as nurses.  

Expanding CARE

Junior and senior CARE students will serve as peer mentors during Ascend, introducing participants to the broader CARE program, which delivers mentoring, academic support, and professional formation sessions.

CARE is the evolution of the CARE Pathway to the BSN, launched in 2021 with a federal nursing workforce diversity grant to support underrepresented students. Twenty-two students were part of the CARE Pathway at its inception.

In spring 2026, nearly 80 undergrads participated in CARE. Because of the program’s popularity—and the potential for CARE’s strategies to benefit a broader range of students—Loyola Nursing is expanding the program to include all interested BSN students.

Today, CARE offers tiered support based on academic need:

• Students at low academic risk can participate in CARE’s enrichment and community-building opportunities.
• Those deemed at medium risk receive proactive outreach and reminders about tutoring, mentoring, and wellness resources.
• Students with the most significant barriers to progression, including Arrupe-to-Nursing students, receive individualized, relationship-based support through regular meetings with the CARE director.

Through CARE, students get the extra boost they need for academic success—through study groups, peer mentors, or direct support from faculty and staff.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie among CARE students, and we’ve worked to build trust with them,” Ortiz said. “CARE is a success because we’re making sure students know they have an advocate and feel seen and heard.”

Loyola Nursing’s BSN program is ranked #13 in the country by U.S. News & World Report and consistently boasts a high National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) pass rate. A state-of-the-art new facility will open in 2028 and house the BSN program.

Read more stories from the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and Arrupe College.