Grants for Nursing Students
Get Free Nursing Financial Aid
Regardless of high demand, nursing remains a pitifully underrepresented profession. Very rarely are there the human numbers to fill the need, especially in medically underserved regions of the country.
Federal Grants for Nursing Students
To these ends the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, division of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) sponsors a handful of valuable grants either specifically or tangentially applicable to nursing students:
- Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students is a federally funded scholarship program available to financially disadvantaged nursing students or other students enrolled full-time in a health sciences program. Eligible programs cover a wide range of specialties, including veterinary school, dental hygiene program, social work, and occupational therapy, among many others. Students must apply directly through the school's financial aid office. In turn participating programs cull candidates from those that apply and disburse the awards as needed.
- Nursing Scholarship Program annually administers over 200 scholarships/grant awards to qualifying nurses. In turn recipients must agree to work for no less than 2 years after graduation at a high-need health care institution. Scholarships cover tuition and associated expenses, plus offer a monthly stipend of over $1,000. Advantage in the scholarship process is given to those nursing students who are full-time undergraduates in an accredited nursing program.
- Nursing Education Loan Repayment is a government sponsored repayment program intended to support the role of nursing in the health professions, increase qualified nurses in high-need areas, and ease the burden of student loans for qualified and financially disadvantaged nurses. Registered nurses with proven financial need applying for the Nursing Education Loan Repayment program must agree to work for no less than 2 years at a high-need facility in exchange for 60% repayment of outstanding student loans. If they agree to an additional year (3 years) the repayment includes 25% more of their loans, or a total repayment of 85% of nursing student loans. Eligible nursing students will be either undergraduate or graduate program participants, have outstanding student loan debt with a clean repayment record.
- Faculty Loan Repayment Program is a federally funded program that helps disadvantaged faculty in the health care professions, including nursing faculty, repay student loan debt. Participating programs may cover a wide spectrum of specialty, including veterinary programs, mental health, physical and occupational therapies, and many others. Eligible faculty must have at least completed four-year undergraduate degrees and either be enrolled in a graduate health professions program or in their last year of graduate work in a health-related field.
- Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program is a federally funded nursing student loan repayment program that is administered by the Indian Health Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nurses, at all professional levels, who are interested in working in culturally stimulating and underserved healthcare facilities, urban or rural, may qualify for repayment of student loans.
Visit the HSRA for application information.
State-funded Grants for Nursing Students
According to the American Nurses Association's (ANA) latest report on "State Legislative Trends," the push is on among many state governments to repair the flagging nursing profession. Efforts are afoot that address issues in a number of ways: first the lack of faculty at accredited nursing schools to handle the number of applicants, including a general lack of facility resources, equipment and program funding; lack of experienced and well-trained nurses in underserved health care areas; and lack of funding or incentive for many post-high school students to even consider nursing.
The report shows that 38 states have now established vigorous state-funded grant and student loan programs that specifically provide support for nursing education. States that have ramped up grant money have funds available to students who qualify to attend state schools.
- Florida's state schools have one of the more powerful nursing education funding programs, especially after 4 state universities were awarded HRSA grants for Advanced Education Nursing Grants: Florida Atlantic University, University of Florida-Gainesville, University of Miami, and the University of South Florida.
- The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority administers between 300 and 400 awards as part of the Nurse Scholars Program. This is a merit-based award and recipients are eligible to receive scholarship funds up to $6,000. Eligible candidates must be enrolled full-time in a state-accredited two-year or four-year undergraduate or graduate nursing program.
Grants for Minority Nursing Students
Part of the remedy for the continually decrepit nursing profession in the United States has been to provide the impetus via funding and facilities to increase the number of minority and international nursing students.
- Arizona State University sponsors American Indian Students United for Nursing. The organization is funded by the Indian Health Services; a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides nursing education scholarship money to Native Americans who could not otherwise afford to enter the nursing profession.
These are just a few of the strong grant programs at work in many state-funded educational environments. Check with your state colleges and universities for their nursing education grants and scholarship opportunities.
Professional Grants for Nursing Students
Nursing students who know what particular specialty they would like to focus on will find another source for possible grant and scholarship funds: professional organizations and associations. The various specialties include critical care, geriatrics, cancer, pediatrics, anesthesia, emergency nursing, public health and any of a range of associated administrative and research specialties.
For the most complete grant discovery, make sure to contact the association that governs the specialty in which you are most interested (these are just a few):
- American Association of Nurse Anesthetists extends three research-based grants annually to nurse anesthetists. Applicants must be CRNA-certified and members of the AANA to qualify.
- American Academy of Nurse Practitioners - offers special grants, especially in research, to nurse practitioners.
- American Association of Critical Care Nurses - the organization's Educational Advancement Scholarship awards funds in the amount of $1500 to undergraduate and graduate nurses specializing in critical care. Recipients must be members of the AACN to participate. Minority nursing students regularly receive a quarter of the scholarships.
- Emergency Nurses Foundation Association offers an annual scholarship to multiple ER nurses nationwide. Amount of award differs based on sponsorship dollars. Recipients may be undergraduate, graduate and doctoral nursing students.
- Gerontological Society of America extends scholarships and grants to graduate nurses who are completing research in areas of Aging.
