Nursing scholarships?????

elkpark · Mar 31, 2011

As a general rule, those online scholarship "services" that promise to get you scholarship money in return for a fee are scams -- stay away from them. However, you can do a lot of scholarship-hunting on your own online without having to disclose any personal information (until you get to the point of actually applying for a particular scholarship, and then you probably could apply via snail mail if you prefer).

Are you already in the process of enrolling in a particular program, or narrowing down your selection to a few schools? The financial aid office of your school(s) is usually a good resource for identifying scholarship possibilities. That's a good place to start.

Check with your state -- I don't know how things are these days, in this economy, but lots of states have traditionally had state funded and operated scholarship/grant programs designed/intended specifically to encourage residents to go into nursing or further their nursing education. When I was looking for funding for grad school, I found that my state had three different state scholarship/grant programs for nursing students at various levels. I was able to get a sizeable chunk of $$$ for grad school, and was able to "work it off" after I graduated simply by working in the state (not for the state, just in the state), which I was planning on doing anyway, and didn't have to pay back a penny (if I had not returned to work in the state, I would have had to pay back the money).

Also, when I was looking for grad school funding, I was able to identify a bunch of small scholarships that were offered by churches, civic groups, professional groups, charitable foundations, etc. Most of these were small (a few hundred dollars up to maybe $1K max), but money is money and, if you got several of them, it would add up. I was able to track these down even in the pre-Internet days -- I'm sure it's much easier online.

Depending on how much money you need, just looking for schooll funding can be nearly a full-time job by itself! :) How much assistance do you figure you're going to need? Are you working as an RN now? Does your employer offer any tuition assistance? (You aren't considering the ridiculously expensive private programs, are you?) I completed a BSN completion program at the state university campus nearest my home years ago, and the cost was quite reasonable -- I was able to work full-time and pay out-of-pocket for the entire program as I went without any great difficulty. (Grad school was a v. different story ...)

Best wishes for your journey!

laRN1 · Apr 1, 2011

Thanks for your very informative reply elkpark!

I'm doing the RN-BSN program at WGU. I don't qualify for many of their scholarships. My workplace doesn't provide any tuition assistance. I'm applying for unsubsidized loans but would love not to have to owe the school the $10K it will cost to complete the program. You gave some very good ideas. I'll start with the state and see how much I can get. I am tempted to go for California's loan forgiveness program. I have lots to think about as I have a family with small children.

Thanks again!

MichiganNurse44 · Apr 2, 2011

Depending on your income and where you want to work after graduation you may find the HRSA scholarship worth looking into. Its full tuition, books, and supplies, a $1300 stipend each month and an additional $2000+ in October. There is a service commitment (two or three years if you do your BSN) but I found it well worth it. I think the scholarship in Michigan is valued at $57,000 a year when all is said and done and for that you may end up working in the hospital that you wanted to work in to begin with. Might be worth checking it out - just type HRSA Nursing Scholarship into a search, it'll come up..

laRN1 · Apr 3, 2011

Thanks Michigannurse44!