A nursing career is rewarding. This is because it comes with emotional and financial satisfaction. For such rewards, it comes with a price.
A huge nursing student loan debt.
The average debt after nursing school is between $19,000 to $48,000. Naturally, this depends on the degree and school you go for. Your nursing student debt may be higher than this debt range.
If this is the case, is nursing school worth the debt?
Yes, nursing school is worth it. You do not have to graduate nursing school with student loan debt. In fact, you can graduate nursing school completely debt free. By debt free here, I refer to graduating college with zero debt.
There are nursing scholarships and programs, which can pay down on your nursing student debt annually. Some of these are big enough to knock your tuition back to zero annually. Now, here are scholarships available for nursing students.
Scholarships For Nursing Majors
Whether you are going for a BSN, a DNP or Phd in nursing, these are the annual scholarships for nursing majors.
1. FNSNA Undergraduate Scholarship Program
FNSNA stands for the Foundation of the National Student Nurses Association. The associate supports nursing education and careers. It has awarded $20 million since 1974.
How will it help you as a nursing student, my good reader?
Well, the FNSNA undergraduate scholarship program awards scholarships through its two distinct scholarships. Namely, the General Scholarship program and the Promise of Nursing Scholarship program.
Here is the difference between the two.
While the General Scholarship program awards $10,000 per academic year, the Promise of Nursing Scholarship program awards $7500. Besides this difference, the former is available to all nursing undergraduates across the country while the latter is not.
Furthermore, the Promise of Nursing Scholarship program has strict criteria. You must attend nursing schools in any of these states to qualify: Arizona, Texas, California and Washington. To apply, click on the blue subheading to be directed to the scholarship website.
2. The AfterCollege-AACN Scholarship Fund
For nursing students seeking a BSN, DNP or Phd in nursing, this is a good scholarship to snag. It awards $10,000. The fund is dispersed as $2500 every quarter of the year. By quarter here, I mean every four months.
The program has special considerations for nursing students thinking about becoming educators. Also, the same courtesy is extended to nursing students in an accelerated program. Or, those in an RN-to-BSN or RN-to-MSN program.
It is amazing, is it not?
Usually, the annual deadlines for this nursing scholarship are on the March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. To be eligible, you must be a member of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. You can apply right now at their website by clicking on the blue subheading.
3. The AANP Scholarship
AANP stands for American Association of Nurse Practitioners. The professional organization awards $2500 to $5000 to scholarship applicants. Chiefly, this is a scholarship meant to help you through your NP, DNP or Phd in Nursing Programs.
Besides, you have to be in one of these three programs to qualify. This is for at least two semesters; meaning you have completed one semester in one of the nursing programs. Also, you cannot apply when you are a member of the board of directors or related to one.
Finally, you have to be a U.S citizen or permanent residents. Not only this, but also be in an accredited program. Otherwise, it would be hard to be considered for a scholarship award.
4. NurseThink® AACN Scholarship Fund
This is a new scholarship. It was announced by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and NurseThink® on March 15th 2022.
The goal of the scholarship is to help create more nurse faculty for academic institutions. This is probably to address the shortage of the nurses. To encourage nursing students in this direction, the scholarship awards $5000 twice a year.
I highly encourage you to apply for it, if you plan on joining a nurse faculty post-graduation. The amount is enough to completely reduce your student debt to zero. It is a great opportunity to jumpstart a nursing career with no debt.
5. The Uniform Advantage-Graduate Nursing Student Association Scholarship
This is one of the best scholarships for nursing majors. It is available to nursing students pursing Master’s or Doctoral degree in nursing. The scholarship amount is $5000. When you are accepted, $2500 is awarded in Spring while $2500 is awarded in Fall.
Also, application deadline is on January 31st and September 30th.
If awarded to you, they may request professional references. In addition to these recommendations, any previous honors or published work may be requested. Besides these two, here are other requirements.
- Be a US citizen or permanent resident
- You will be asked to write a 500 word essay about the current healthcare system and its future impact.
- Maintain a GPA of 3.5
On the essay part, I advice you to utilize English correction centers to advice you on grammatical structure and accuracy. You want to be able to differentiate yourself from other scholarship applicants. I say this, because I know a lot of nursing eyes are on this scholarship.
6. Master’s Scholarships- Oncology Nursing Foundation Support
For Master’s degree seeking nursing students interested in oncology, this is for you. The award is $5000. However, this is not a renewable scholarship. It means you only get this once.
What are the eligibility for this scholarship?
Firstly, you must be a registered nurse. Your interest should be in the oncology field; that is, pursing your Master’s in an oncology related nursing field. Finally, you must have good recommendations. Usually, this is in the form of professional references, research articles or oncology related work.
7. CastleBranch-GNSA Scholarship
GNSA stands for Graduate nursing student academy. This scholarship awards $2500 twice a semester four times per academic year. Yes, I know. It went over my head too.
When you do the calculation though, this completely clears a great deal of your nursing student debt. Further, this scholarship requires you to have at least a GPA of 3.5. Besides this requirement, your nursing school needs to be a member of American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Above all, a GNSA membership is required. If you meet all these requirements, then you can write a 500 word essay on how you intend to contribute to nursing. For GNSA membership, click here to register on the AACN website. Otherwise, click on the blue subheading to apply for the scholarship.
Student Loan Forgiveness For Nurses
Nurses can get their student loans forgiven. There are medical school forgiveness programs, which can completely reset nursing school debt to zero. These are the ways to get college loan forgiveness for nurses.
1. nurse corps loan repayment program
The nurse corp has a very good repayment program, which can knock out 85% of your nursing student debt. All you have to do is to sign up a two year contract to work in a CSF- Critical Shortage Facility. Or, a school.
Here is the best part.
You get 60% of your debt paid during the contract period. Then, up to 25% after the second year. What this means is you may do another year after contract, in order to reduce your remaining debt.
Surely, this is a deal you do not want to pass as a nursing graduate. Now, what makes you eligible for this sweet deal?
Firstly, you have to be a Registered nurse. Also, your nursing program should be an accredited school. And finally, you are willing to work full time in an CSF.
2. Public Service Loan Forgiveness
You can get the government paying for nursing school. All you have to do is work in a public health sector in underserved communities. Whether this is the military, non-profit or government health facility, it will qualify you for PSLF fund. This is why it is the one of the government tuition reimbursement programs for nurses out there.
Companies that Pay For Nursing School
There are student loan forgiveness for nurses working in hospitals. Most healthcare facilities will pay for nursing school. This is because they can get back the value of their investment on you, since you are an employee.
In fact, there are hospitals with loan forgiveness for nurses.
To begin, ask your Human Resource department about its tuition reimbursement program. Most American companies have one. But, they all come in different amounts with varying policies. Your HR department can help you better on this than me. So, reach out to them.
In the end, the decision to graduate nursing school without a debt lies in your ability to follow through with my recommendations here. A nurse can qualify for loan forgiveness and scholarships, regardless of the degree or school. With that said, I encourage you to give it a try.
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