Chamberlain University opened its first Utah campus in Sandy on Oct. 22, bringing a new nursing school to the state with the fewest nurses per resident in the country.
The campus at 9490 South 300 West welcomed its first Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) cohort on Oct. 26, according to a Chamberlain newsroom release. At full capacity, the school can train up to 400 students. It is Chamberlain's 26th location nationwide.
Utah has about seven registered nurses for every 1,000 residents, according to Chamberlain, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The university says that is the lowest ratio in the country. A 2024 state audit found that qualified applicants were being turned away from public nursing programs, according to state Rep. Katy Hall, a nurse who represents District 11.
"We need an all-of-the-above approach," Hall said at the Oct. 22 ribbon cutting. "That means looking at every reasonable opportunity to expand nursing education and increase the number of qualified nurses entering the workforce."
Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski also attended the ceremony. She said Chamberlain strengthens Sandy's role as a center for education, healthcare and economic opportunity in the south Salt Lake Valley.
The Salt Lake City area recorded more than 24,000 healthcare job openings over the preceding year, up nearly 20% year over year, according to figures Chamberlain cited from the 2026 Covista Care Capacity Monitor. The monitor combines labor-market analysis with a separate Gallup survey of healthcare workers and executives. Covista is Chamberlain’s parent company.
The three-year BSN program offers evening and weekend classes. Students do not need to complete prerequisite courses before enrolling, and there is no application fee, according to the university. Students train in a simulation center on campus before moving into clinical rotations at local healthcare sites, including DaVita and Odyssey House of Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Trevor Scott, executive campus director for the Sandy location, said most of the inaugural students already live and work in the area.
"They know these neighborhoods and the people in them, and three years from now, they'll be the nurses caring for those same neighbors," Scott said.
The campus opening also included a $100,000 commitment from Covista and the Covista Foundation to Intermountain Health. The two-year pledge will support apprenticeship and tuition-covered training programs where caregivers train on the job for roles such as surgical technologist and medical assistant while earning a paycheck, according to the Chamberlain release.
Chamberlain, a private, for-profit institution headquartered in Chicago, says it operates the largest nursing school in the country, serving about 40,000 students across 26 campuses in 17 states. More than 200 Chamberlain alumni already work in patient care in Utah, according to the university.
Private nursing programs often cost more than public ones. Chamberlain's three-year BSN runs about $100,000 at full cost, and a comparable degree at the University of Utah would take about four years and cost about $44,000 at sticker price before scholarships or financial aid, the Tribune reported. The Sandy campus has six enrollment start dates per year.
