Scholarships for Nursing Students
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Nursing careers offer an appealing combination of stability, strong growth, and solid pay. However, you need to pay for school before you can tap into those benefits, which can be challenging.
In 2020, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Lab found that the average undergraduate healthcare student paid $8,551 in tuition and fees. Over four years, that adds up to more than $34,000 in tuition alone — not including extra costs like room, board, and materials.
Scholarships for nursing students can reduce the cost of your nursing degree — sometimes significantly. This resource explains financing strategies and scholarship programs you can use to help save money.
Student Loan Forgiveness for Nurses
Federal and state governments, along with military branches, provide a variety of student loan forgiveness, repayment, and dischargement programs to help qualified nurses pay off their loans in less time. Check out these top programs:
- Health Professions Loan Repayment Program: Nurses with qualifying federal loans can apply as active members of the military. The military will repay up to $40,000 per year.
- Federal Perkins Loan Cancellation: Nurses with Federal Perkins Loans can incrementally get up to 100% of their loans discharged after working full-time for five years.
- Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program: In exchange for working at a facility supporting underserved communities, participating nurses get 60% of their loans paid off after two years and an additional 25% after three years.
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: After working full-time in the public sector for a decade and making monthly loan payments, qualifying nurses can have the remainder of their loans forgiven.
Nursing Grants
Nursing grants provide support for nursing professionals seeking funding for educational and/or research activities. As long as you meet the terms of the grant, these funding sources do not require repayment.
- ANNA Research Grants: The American Nephrology Nurses Association provides grants to support research projects of up to $15,000, based on project needs.
- Sigma Nursing Research Grants: Students can select from both research and educational grants provided by Sigma Nursing, which provides grants throughout the year with varied eligibility requirements.
- Promise of Nursing Regional Faculty Fellowship: These fellowships provide up to $7,500 per academic year for nurse educators seeking further training. They must attend a school in California.
- Sigma/American Nurses Credentialing Center Evidence-Based Practice Implementation Grant: Nurses working in clinical settings can receive up to $20,000 from this grant if they maintain membership in one of the two grant-providing organizations and propose an evidence-based practice project.
Nursing Student Scholarships
Scholarships for nursing students provide funding for nursing students at every academic level and specialization area. In addition to general awards, there are also scholarships for minority applicants, graduate learners, and other specific populations. We break these down and provide examples in the following sections.
Financial Aid for Nursing Students
Nursing students can take advantage of many types of financial aid. Consider options from these six categories to help you meet your educational costs:
FAFSA
Students and/or their parents must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year of enrollment to qualify for grants, federal work-study funds, and federal loans provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Pay close attention to the FAFSA deadline since the government awards funding on a rolling basis.
Scholarships
Many nursing students favor scholarships since they do not need to be repaid as long as learners meet the terms of the award. You can find scholarships through colleges and universities, professional associations, nonprofits, and healthcare facilities.
Grants
Grants function similarly to scholarships because you do not need to repay them if you follow the award terms. You can find these awards through federal, state, and local government agencies, colleges and universities, and foundations.
Fellowships
Fellowships provide paid opportunities for graduate nursing students to gain on-the-job experience at participating healthcare facilities in exchange for a stipend and networking opportunities. Some government agencies also provide fellowships.
Federal Work-Study
After submitting financial information as part of the FAFSA, you may qualify for federal work-study. It allows you to work part-time at your university in exchange for an hourly wage paid by the federal government and disbursed by the school.
Loans
After exhausting all other funding options, you can take out student loans from the federal government to help cover extenuating costs. These must be repaid with interest, so you should consider when to accept loans and how much funding to accept.
Additional Financial Aid Resources
- Financial Aid for Online Nursing Students: For many learners, completing an online nursing degree makes sense when balancing outside personal and professional responsibilities. Financial aid for online nursing students can help ease their monetary burden and let them focus on their education.
- Financial Aid for Nursing Students With Disabilities: Students with disabilities working toward a nursing education can receive financial aid and support through a variety of scholarships and grants. Some of these awards support students managing specific disabilities while others are more generic in nature.
- Nursing Scholarships for Single Parents: Completing a nursing degree while also parenting a child creates unique challenges and hurdles to education. That said, many foundations and organizations provide awards for these determined and focused learners.
- Financial Aid for Veterans and Active Military: Nursing students who actively serve in the military or hold veteran status may take advantage of specialized scholarships and funding opportunities. Students can learn more about military financial aid on this page.
Frequently Asked Questions About Scholarships for Nursing Students
Some U.S. schools have launched innovative programs offering tuition-free nursing degrees to eligible students. However, these initiatives are very rare, as are scholarships for nursing students that fully cover tuition (though some do exist). If you plan to enroll in a nursing program, you should expect to incur thousands of dollars in direct costs.
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Updated September 27, 2023