SPOKANE, WA – Washington State University Health Sciences and Whitworth University are excited to announce the expansion of a 55-year partnership that will allow students access to a broader range of degrees in health sciences and ultimately fill a growing number of positions in Spokane’s healthcare industry.

Whitworth has had an existing partnership with WSU’s College of Nursing that has greatly benefited both institutions and students. They’re now expanding that relationship to offer students who qualify for guaranteed seats in several additional graduate programs.

“I am proud to build on this long-standing institutional partnership that supports the growth of our healthcare workforce in Washington,” said Daryll DeWald, executive vice president for WSU Health Sciences and WSU Spokane chancellor. “It is through this kind of collaboration that we can address the gaps in care faced by our communities.”

Under the new enrollment agreements, Whitworth will have 10% of its seats in its physical therapy and occupational therapy doctoral programs reserved for qualified WSU applicants. WSU will hold the same number of reserved seats for qualified Whitworth students wanting to enroll in its pharmacy program and its Coordinated Program in Dietetics, Nutrition & Exercise Physiology. Spots will also be secured for Whitworth students when WSU offers its new master’s degree in nursing in spring 2026.

“These new enrollment agreements build on more than a half-century of Whitworth and WSU partnering academically,” says Mike Ediger, dean of Whitworth’s School of Health Sciences. “They will definitely help to facilitate a smooth transition for more students to our outstanding master’s and doctoral level programs.”

The institutions have a common goal of creating a generational campaign that begins with the recruitment of high school students and ends with job placements in the region.

“We want to recruit local high school students into our undergraduate majors and then show them there are direct pathways to complete a graduate degree in Spokane,” Ediger said. “Our alumni are going to both graduate and professional programs all over the country, which is great! But we’ve got fantastic graduate programs here in the region as well, and we want more students to be able to take advantage of these opportunities. They don’t have to leave!”

More information about WSU’s Spokane-based health sciences degree programs can be found online.