KU School of Health Professions enrollment on the rise

As the outreach and recruitment specialist for the University of Kansas School of Health Professions, Alex Lopez is used to surprising people.

He’s often the first to share with undergraduate, community college and high school students — or their parents — that there are many more fast-growing, in-demand health care careers than they realized.

“Their eyes always get a lot bigger,” Lopez said.

KU School of Health Professions is home for the programs leading to those careers in a wide range of fields, from physical therapy and occupational therapy to speech pathology, clinical laboratory science and more. KU School of Health Professions currently has 27 degree programs, with several highly ranked among public universities nationwide.

Enrollment in KU School of Health Professions has grown steadily for the past decade and is poised to continue its upward momentum. Demand is increasing for workers in many areas of health care, and the school is creating programs and stepping up recruitment to help meet it.

“We are on a journey to become the premier institution of health professions in the United States,” said Abiodun Akinwuntan, Ph.D., MPH, MBA, dean of KU School of Health Professions. “To get there, we need to continue increasing student enrollment and graduation (rates) while we continue to do our best to retain the most experienced and committed faculty and staff.”

The school’s total enrollment has grown more than 26% over the past decade. Currently 828 students are enrolled in KU School of Health Professions: 658 in graduate programs, 153 in undergraduate programs and 17 in certificate programs. The school is on track to exceed its goal of enrolling 1,000 students by 2028. As the flagship health professions school in Kansas, increasing enrollment is a top priority, Akinwuntan said. Higher enrollment should translate to more health professionals graduating to serve Kansas communities and beyond.

“Health care workforce shortages, especially in the health professions in general, in the state of Kansas and across the United States are steadily increasing,” Akinwuntan said. “The aging of the population, the increasing number of rural dwellers and increasing chronic illness rates will continue to add to the demand for health professionals.”

The school has created 12 new degree programs since 2016, said Heather Gibbs, Ph.D., associate dean for student affairs and associate professor of dietetics and nutrition. Some highlights include:

• A master’s degree in genetic counseling launched in fall 2024, the first genetic counseling program in the state of Kansas.
• A hybrid doctoral degree program in physical therapy launched in summer 2025. Students take courses remotely but travel to Kansas City for multi-day, intensive “lab immersions” once or twice per semester. The program aims to attract students living in rural Kansas, in hopes they will eventually practice in rural communities. Adding the hybrid option enables KU to double the number of students admitted annually to its elite physical therapy program, from 60 to 120.
• A doctoral degree in clinical laboratory science, which has seen enrollment triple in the past five years.
• A doctoral degree in clinical nutrition, which has seen enrollment increase dramatically every year for the past five years.
• A bachelor’s degree in diagnostic science, previously offered only as a certificate. Students can choose to achieve the degree with concentrations in cardiovascular sonography, diagnostic ultrasound and vascular technology, or nuclear medicine technology.
• Master’s programs in athletic training and health informatics, which moved into KU School of Health Professions from other KU units.

“We have had a number of program changes over the last 10 years, which have been very responsive to the changes in health professions and the increased need for health professions,” Gibbs said.

In addition to strategically developing new programs while continuing to increase enrollment in existing programs, KU School of Health Professions has ramped up recruitment and financial aid.

One such effort is the Underserved Communities Have a Medical Provider — or U-CHaMP — scholarship program, which recruits health professions students from economically and educationally underserved backgrounds. KU is beginning the second academic year of its participation in the national program, funded by a $3.25 million, five-year grant from the federal Health Resources & Service Administration.

Another step was hiring a full-time recruiter, Lopez, five years ago.

Health care and social assistance is projected to have the largest job growth and be the fastest-growing industry sector in the coming decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in August. Health care support occupations, health care practitioners and technical occupations are projected to be among the fastest-growing occupational groups.

Lopez emphasizes those statistics to guidance counselors and potential students. “The opportunities are there,” he said.