Nursing Scholarship Program
The national nursing scholarship program is administered by the health resources and services adminstration (HRSA) for US student nurses. Once you have qualifed you'll need to work at an approved medical health establishment that suffers from a nursing shortage for 2 years.
Eligibility Criteria
You must have been accepted in or enrolled in a nationally recognized and accredited nursing degree program and be a US citizen with no criminal convictions to even qualify for this scholarship. Preference is given to those that have a zero expected family contribution (EFC) and you must then agree to work in a medical facility that has a shortage of nurses for two years after you have completed your degree program.
How Many and How Much ?
The range of the award varies depending on your assistance requirements and your family income scores and the range is between $20,000 and $200,000 with the average award being $55,000. Only around 250 scholarships are awarded through this scheme each year so not everyone is going to benefit from this financial aid program. In exchange for the two years service you receive 100% of your total qualifying educational loan balance. Although this is a big commitment to be making as you won't know where you will be working at least almost all of your tuition fees and other expenses will be paid for by the government to help you in your chosen career.
The payment will cover just about everything and covers tuition and required fees, other reasonable costs including books, lab expenses and clinical supplies and an included monthly stipend of $1,269.
Applying for the Scholarship
Rather like the pell grants that are available you need to apply online or in writing with a ton of information about yourself and your family's income. The hrsa.gov website is the place to go for more application detail and to submit your forms. During 2009 there were 4,894 eligible applicants for this scholarship with 574 applicants for first preference of funding with just 172 provided with any form of scholarship award.
To apply you need to complete the free application for federal student assistance (FAFSA) and are enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a full time student in an undergraduate nursing program. The first funding preference group is where you get a zero expected family contribution on the FAFSA so is really geared towards low income families.
The bureau of clnician recruitment and service (BCRS) and the health resources and services administration (HRSA) administer the national nursing scholarship program (NSP).