Abstract Objective: To analyze the institutionalization of the higher education in Nursing in Rio Grande do Norte in the 1970s. Method: This is a qualitative research, with a historical-social approach, arising from consultations with documentary sources and interviews with characters that experienced this history. Data were analyzed in the light of Thematic Analysis. Results: The following categories appeared: The higher education in Nursing in Rio Grande do Norte; and The Nursing Department of Natal, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. Conclusion: The operation of the higher education in Nursing in the state - in Mossoró (1971) and in Natal (1974) - stems from the effects of the University Reform, which is responsible for increasing the number of vacancies in higher education, opening new Nursing Schools in the country, as well as for raising the need for professional qualification related to the national developmental policy entailed by the Economic Miracle and to the implementation of the development plan of the Northeast Region.