Nursing Grants and Scholarships For Minorities-Free Government Money

Nursing Grants and Scholarships For Minorities-Free Government Money

With the growing need for nurses in the US, government and private sources have made available a large number of nursing grants including nursing grants for minorities; that is, Hispanic, African American, Asian American, and Native American students. Particularly targeted are minority women students. Grants generally differ from scholarships because the funds are awarded based more on financial need or underrepresented student populations than exceptional academic achievement or test scores. 

Grant funds often are used for student expenses incurred besides tuition. Scholarships often are earmarked specifically for tuition and are more strongly based on academic excellence and SAT's; however, the distinction is often blurred so the terms grants and scholarships are often interchangeable.

As part of a remedy for the increasing need of nursing care in the face of decreasing choice of nursing as a professional career, Federal grants were introduced to increase the number of nursing students, especially minority students. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) sponsor a number of valuable grants applicable to nursing students. Specifically, "Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students" is a federally funded ($52M for 2010) grants/scholarships program to recruit and retain the financially disadvantaged, particularly members of racial and ethnic minorities, as nursing students or students enrolled in a health science program. These Federal nursing grants for minorities are released through individual schools and students must apply through their schools financial aid office.

Similarly, state governments feeling the nursing squeeze and the presence of under-served health care areas also have responded to the lack of funds or incentive for high school graduates even to consider a nursing career. According to a report on "State Legislative Trends" issued by the American Nurses Association's (ANA), 38 state governments have established vigorous state-funded grant and loan programs providing support for nursing education and the majority, if not all of these states, devote a significant portion of these funds as nursing grants for minorities. 

There are also traditionally black state nursing schools with grants available and Native Americans have similar opportunities in tribal schools and universities.

Another source of nursing grants for minorities is the numerous national professional nursing organizations. The Foundation of the National Student Nurses Association (FNSNA) is a charitable and educational organization that awards grant/scholarships ($2M since 1974) to qualified nursing students including the Breakthrough to Nursing Scholarships specifically providing nursing grants for minorities. Specialty American nursing organizations such as the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) award funds to undergraduate and graduate nurses in their specialty and a quarter of recipients historically have been minorities. The National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) provides numerous annual grants/scholarships for students, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) also provides Scholarship Awards, and the National American Arab Nurses Association (NAANA) has a Scholarship Fund.

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