HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 2025-- As the U.S. faces a critical healthcare workforce shortage, the Heritage Valley Health System School of Nursing, part of the Pennsylvania regional healthcare provider Heritage Valley Health System, announced a new partnership with Sophia Learning, an online, on-demand, self-paced learning platform. This collaboration enables students to complete their nursing degree more efficiently by taking select online college-level general education courses that have been pre-approved for transfer to its School of Nursing.

This partnership, which aims to support Heritage Valley’s internal candidate pipeline by helping improve retention and attracting aspiring nurses, comes as the U.S. is projected to have a shortage of nearly 700,000 critical healthcare workers, including physicians, RNs and LPNs by 2037 (HRSA, 2024).

“We are committed to finding new ways to attract and retain a strong nursing workforce at Heritage Valley Health System,” said Norman Mitry, President and CEO of Heritage Valley Health System. “General education requirements can often slow down or deter prospective students from pursuing or completing a nursing program. Allowing students to complete general education requirements prior to their nursing courses, in a more flexible and affordable way will benefit our students, employees and patients.”

Sophia Learning’s self-paced format allows students to complete their general education courses in, on average, one third of the time compared with traditional semester-long courses. As part of this partnership, select general education courses, including core science requirements, are accessible around the clock from virtually any device and are eligible for transfer to the Heritage Valley School of Nursing.

A recent Harris Poll paints a picture of a healthcare workforce at a crossroads with burnout, accelerating turnover, and the demands on workers intensifying. Over half of those surveyed (55%) admit that they’ll look for job openings, interview for, or switch to a new role in the next year and of those looking to leave, 48% cite a lack of career advancement, personal development, or education opportunities as the reason why.

“We are honored to partner with Heritage Valley Health System to make nursing education more affordable and attainable for current and aspiring nurses,” said Hunter Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Sophia. “Through this partnership, we’re helping strengthen the nursing pipeline and address the nationwide shortage through accessible learning pathways.”

Heritage Valley Health System School of Nursing students are now eligible to enroll in Sophia courses. For more information on this partnership, visit HVHS School of Nursing Transfer Courses from Sophia | Sophia Learning.

About Sophia Learning

Sophia is an online learning platform that allows students at any stage of their higher education journey to get started on or continue their education by taking affordable and flexible college-level general education courses. Sophia courses are ACE-recommended for college credit and are designed to be transferred to many colleges and universities. Sophia students have saved more than $1B in tuition dollars*, completed more than 1M courses, and have been awarded more than 2.9M transfer credits at receiving institutions. For more information about Sophia, visit Sophia.org. Sophia is a subsidiary of Strategic Education, Inc.

*Savings based on average annual tuition at public four-year, in-state institutions. Source: College Board Trends in College Pricing Report (2024)

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Media Contact:
Elaine Kincel
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Source: Sophia Learning