May 12, 2026

A growing nursing program has moved into a space that better fits its needs.

Dakota Wesleyan University now offers its Associate of Science degree in nursing program at 817 W. Russell St., moving from space downtown on Main Avenue.

The college, which is headquartered in Mitchell, also offers the two-year program in Rapid City.

It launched the ADN program in Sioux Falls in August 2025. The first class met its original enrollment goal of 24 students and now is nearing its enrollment goal of 32 for this fall, said Penny Tilton, chair of DWU’s nursing department.

The new location doubles the classroom size to two and adds a simulation-room area and offices for the faculty, Tilton said. It also offers ample parking spaces for students, freeing them from having to leave class to put money in parking meters.

“It was a wonderful win for us to find the location on Russell Street,” she said.

The Russell Street building also houses Plan Wise Legal and Retail Data Systems; the DWU rooms are in the lower level.

The ADN program replaces an earlier nursing program that DWU offered: LPN to BSN. Students with no experience in healthcare can graduate in two years as registered nurses, said Tilton, who has been with the university for six years.

Hospital settings in South Dakota are seeing a massive shortage of nurses, and the program is designed to replace the nurses needed in a clinical setting, she said.

“Our new location allows us to offer a great education to students as we prepare them to be nurses in 24 months,” Tilton said.

DWU’s Rapid City campus also will have an enrollment of 32 this fall.