Mayah Farfan says she remembers growing up Latino and watching her community members be scared to seek help from doctors or nurses. These childhood memories ultimately shaped her decision to pursue a career in health care, she says.

“I just saw that as an opportunity where I wanted to be the best nurse for somebody else and care for them and my family,” said Farfan, a first-year student at SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake, NY.

Farfan is one of 85 students enrolled in the college’s nursing program this school year, which has more than doubled from 40 students in 2022 to 85 in 2026. Its RN program was first registered with New York State in 1985. 

Over the past five years, SUNY Sullivan has dramatically revamped its program. Dr. Chyrise Taylor, director of nursing programs at SUNY Sullivan, said the redesign involved big personnel and curriculum changes.

The program bumped up the number of one-on-one sessions and expanded the direct support available for students. It also refined its admission process: applicants must pass an entrance exam, and its preferred students come with foundational science courses already taken.

The changes have paid off. The college’s NCLEX pass rate (the licensing exam for nurses) climbed from 38 percent in 2021 to 86 percent in 2025. Nursing enrollment is also up 72 percent in recent years. 

But developing the program has come with its own slew of challenges. For starters, Taylor says she doesn’t have enough available slots. The college currently has two nursing labs, one nursing classroom and one computer lab—far less than what Taylor  needs to expand the program.

“I can only accept so many students because of the lack of space and teaching faculty, so while I’m here drumming and saying ‘Come to SUNY Sullivan,’ the reality—and the sad reality—is I can only accept about one-third of the people who apply,” said Taylor. 

The college isn’t alone in these challenges. 

A report from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reports that more than 92,600 qualified applications were turned away from nursing programs in 2025 due to an insufficient number of faculty, classroom space and budget constraints. The median salary for an advanced-practice registered nurse is $132,050, compared to an average salary of $82,762 for a master’s-level nursing professor.

“SUNY is aware that this is a challenge and has tried to make some changes, but frankly, the biggest challenge that we have is we can’t match the salary. We cannot. Even if we were Harvard [University], we wouldn’t match the salary,” said Taylor. 

Still, the college’s classrooms remain full and buzzing a few weeks into the fall semester. David Sellers, a first-year nursing student at SUNY Sullivan, says the program staff helps ease the transition into the semester.

“The professors really do work with you. I don’t just say that,” said Sellers. “They’re on the same pace that you are. They’ll help you get on track.”

Taylor says both the staff and students’ dedications to Sullivan County is fiercely unrivaled, and she’s looking forward to seeing where each of her students go next.

“ Making sure that we are an integral, important piece to the health care of [Sullivan] County is our driving force, and it is a driving force of every single person who works in this program,” said Taylor. “Every single one of my clinical preceptors is a SUNY Sullivan graduate. Most of my professors here are SUNY Sullivan graduates. We are dedicated to this county.”