The long-awaited move brings Samuel Merritt University’s 2,000 students and 500 faculty and staff to the city center from their former Pill Hill campus a mile away. Many health care jobs, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, are among the fastest growing professions in Alameda County. “In all my clinicals and everywhere I’ve been, I meet a Samuel Merritt student. Karim is now pursuing a nursing degree at Samuel Merritt and getting housing allowed her to resume her education, Karim said. Carroll Fife (left), a city councilmember representing downtown Oakland, and Sameerah Karim, a nursing student at Samuel Merritt, speak about how acquiring housing allowed Karim to pursue a degree.