02/26/2026
It was an honor to speak about our nursing programs at the Texas Board of Nursing. We are doing incredible things at Cisco with much more to come in the near future. 🩺💙
Cisco College Introduces Dual Credit LVN Courses
By Linda Spetter
The Nursing Program at Cisco College is so much on the “cutting edge” of nursing training that the program’s Dean and Director were recently invited to speak to the Texas Board of Nursing about the program’s innovations.
Dr. Pearl Merritt, Dean of the college’s School of Nursing for 13 years, and Dr. Spencer Woody, Director of Nursing for the past two years, journeyed to Austin to describe recent developments at Cisco College before the 13-member board, appointed by the Texas governor, that is responsible for nursing school accreditation in Texas.
Chief among the innovations the Cisco College officials presented is the introduction of nursing courses into the Dual Credit programs in the high schools. A high school student can become a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) in one year, even before graduating from high school.
“The great thing about it, then, they go one more year to get the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN), and when they take their state board exams, they are an RN,” Dean Merritt said.
The first Dual Credit program for nursing was conducted recently through the college’s partnership with Holland High School in Abilene. The first three graduates had a 100 percent pass rate on the state exams.
Cisco College is now working on a plan to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing at the college, which would require an additional two semesters of school beyond the ADN degree. Target date to begin that new program is January 2027.
Dean Merritt pointed out that the State of Texas is projecting that by 2032, the state will have a shortage of 57,000 nurses.
Merritt said one reason is that when nurses who are nearing retirement were growing up, young women often had limited career opportunities; they could become a nurse or a teacher. Now these older nurses are retiring, but young women have much broader career choices now, and this contributes to the shortfall of nurses.
Cisco College’s LVN program begins three times a year, in January, May and August. The next level, the ADN program (associate’s degree nursing leading to an RN degree upon passing the state exams), begins every August and January.
The first step to entering Nursing School at Cisco College is to contact a health counselor at the college, either in person, or by calling or emailing, Merritt said, and then fill out a college application.
Dean Merritt attributes the success rate of the nursing program to “our faculty. We have the best faculty.” She praised Director Woody who has put together a team of six LVN faculty and four ADN faculty. “She’s brought new ideas, but also resources,” Merritt said.
Woody graduated from all of Cisco College’s nursing programs before receiving her master’s and doctorate degrees from Grand Canyon University. Dean Merritt took her nursing prerequisites from Cisco College before earning two master’s degrees from Abilene Christian University and a doctorate from Texas Tech.
“Both of us were LVNs, and so that's why we're really passionate about making sure our students have the opportunity because they can start as an LVN, which we did, and work your way through school,” Merritt said. “We serve the underserved here.”
Why should a student choose nursing? “It's a passion. It's not a job,” Woody said. “You don't come here just to go to work. You have to be passionate about taking care of other people and serving other people. And I think, along with that passion, it provides so many opportunities. It's life-changing. When they go to school here, we tell the students, give it your all for that year or two years because it's going to totally change your life and your family's life.
Merritt said, “One of the questions they asked us at the board that kind of stuck with me was, how many of these students are first-generation college students? And they all are. So we really like to focus on those students. We both have a heart and a passion for them.”
In addition to LVN and ADN programs, Cisco offers a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA course and an 8-week Certified Nurses Aides (CNA) course. The CMA can work in the prison or nursing homes to give medications. The CNAs work in nursing homes and hospitals to provide direct patient care.
Pictured are Dr. Pearl Merritt, left, Dean of the School of Nursing at Cisco College, and Dr. Spencer Woody, Director of Nursing, examine a "baby" in a simulation lab at the college's Abilene campus.
