Nursing PhD consortia: a model for maximizing scarce resources

Doctoral (PhD) education in nursing is costly and requires scarce resources: qualified faculty, qualified students, research funding, and infrastructure. This article discusses the development and implementation of a five-school consortium for delivery of an established PhD in Nursing Science program throughout north Florida. Factors that contributed to the success of the Consortium, including communication, history of shared work, collaborative approaches, and a formal agreement, are described. Challenges, such as maintaining curricular integrity across settings and selecting web-based formats, are considered. Results to date have been a viable consortium with a 4-year history, three PhD consortium graduates, 22 PhD students enrolled via the consortium, and success in attracting both federal and private funding. Consortia are proposed as a strategy for the effective use of limited resources, and suggestions are provided for the development of successful consortium models capable of delivering high-quality PhD nursing education.