LSU’s Baton Rouge campus will launch two new medical degree programs, including an undergraduate nursing program, to address a shortage of medical professionals.

The program will eventually allow 90 pre-nursing students to stay in Baton Rouge to pursue the major, with the first cohort expected to graduate in May 2028. Previously, nursing students completed 37 prerequisite credits before applying to LSU Health New Orleans.

“We’re producing more registered nurses with a bachelor’s degree, and this expansion is a key part of ensuring that our pre-nursing students have an option to stay local,” said LSU Health New Orleans Dean Demetrius Porche in an announcement Tuesday.

The announcement said students who pursue the new undergraduate nursing program will undergo the same curriculum as those in New Orleans, a nursing program the Nursing Schools Almanac ranked 10th nationally last year. The program will offer students clinical training through partnerships with Woman’s Hospital and Our Lady of the Lake.

The move comes as the Louisiana Board of Regents projects a 42% shortage of registered nurses in the state by 2030, numbers reflective of a nationwide trend. Thirty students will be admitted in the program’s first semester, and 60 students will be admitted next spring.

The university also announced a new two-year master’s program at the Baton Rouge campus. The public health and epidemiology program will have courses offered for the first time in the fall. The announcement said the program will utilize healthcare partnerships between LSU campuses and the university’s partners and offer students interdisciplinary faculty expertise.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the public health and epidemiology program as two separate programs instead of one master’s program.