The Nevada Office of Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE)

Growing Nevada’s Allied Health Workforce for Over a Half Century

The Nevada Office helps fill critical gaps in the statewide health care workforce by offering tuition assistance in exchange for employment commitments and participating in student exchange programs.

About Us

The Nevada Office of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education was established in 1959 as a participating member of the multi-state Western Regional Education Compact comprised of 15 western states and the U.S. Pacific Territories and Freely Associated States.

The Nevada Office operates three programs, which provide tuition assistance to individuals studying various allied health professions in exchange for employment commitments upon graduation. Employment commitments serve as a tool to increase Nevada’s health profession workforce.

Benefits

Since 1959, Nevada has partnered with and benefited from WICHE through regional collaboration, resource-sharing, sound public policy, and innovation.

WICHE operates three Student Access Programs that together saved nearly 50,000 students $580+ million in 2022-23. Each program supports students at each level of postsecondary education: undergraduate, graduate, and professional healthcare studies

The Nevada Office’s programs serve to accomplish the following:

Provide quality higher educational opportunities to Nevadans by offering access to programs not available in the state, and avoiding the high cost of establishing new programs within the state.
Support the growth of a highly qualified workforce and contribute to the economic development of Nevada by ensuring placement and practice of health professionals with an emphasis on areas of established need.

Our Programs

The Nevada Office operates three programs to increase the supply of Nevada’s health profession workforce.

WICHE Professional Student Exchange Program (PSEP)

In exchange for tuition support, graduate students studying in healthcare fields with Nevada workforce shortages commit to practicing in the state of Nevada for a period of time upon graduation (typically one year of employment for one year of funding). The Nevada Office currently supports the allied health fields of occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, physician assistants and veterinary medicine through the PSEP.

Nevada’s Health Profession Education Program (HPEP)

Nevada’s Health Profession Education Program (HPEP) provides funding to students in the fields of graduate social work and graduate/undergraduate nursing. In exchange for tuition assistance, HPEP students commit to employment in medically underserved urban and rural areas of the state upon graduation.

HPEP Nevada WICHE/USU Veterinary School Stipend

The Nevada Office of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) entered into a contract with Utah State University (USU) for $8,000,000 to provide stipend to reduce the cost of out-of-state tuition for 70 residents of the State of Nevada to earn a degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the College of Veterinary Medicine at USU during the period from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2034.

The Nevada Office contributes to the supply of high-demand health professionals throughout Nevada by attaching employment commitments to its funding requirements, retaining participants in our communities for one to four years upon graduation. Many participants continue working in our communities after their employment commitment is complete.

Impacts on Nevada

Nevada WICHE is a springboard for your future in these key areas.

Education

Provides financial assistance and reduced tuition, to Nevada students at participating institutions.

Workforce

Program participants can work a minimum of 1-4 years to meet workforce shortages, and many participants continue to work in Nevada after they have completed the obligation period.

Health Care

Program participants who remain in Nevada after graduation provide allied health care in the field for which they were funded. Nevadans throughout the state have access to care on a continuous, consistent basis that may otherwise not be available.