As the world around us evolves and as society becomes increasingly diverse, the demographics of the health professions workforce, including nursing, have been slow to change. Even with influential public relations campaigns sponsored by Johnson & Johnson (2015), pivotal policy reports such as the Institute of Medicine the Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health report (Institute of Medicine, 2010), and programs such as the New Careers in Nursing Program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/New Careers in Nursing (2015), much work remains if the nursing workforce is to match the demographics of the U.S.

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Therefore, this article will examine the role that accreditation agencies and innovative programs, such as pipeline programs and academic-service scholarship programs, could play in promoting diversity in the future nursing workforce.