Robert Wood Johnson Announces First Nursing Scholarships

By Richard Shank

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), along with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, announced that 58 schools of nursing will receive new funding through the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program. This program is designed to increase the supply of new nurses by providing financial aid to students who enroll in “fast-track” nursing degree programs. Scholarships of $10,000 will be awarded to over 700 nursing students in accelerated programs in this coming academic year.

The scholarship program was created to address both the shortage of practicing nurses and nursing faculty—a shortage that has been described as a threat to the health of all Americans. It is meant to expand entry-level accelerated programs at the baccalaureate and/or master’s degree level. The grant funds are dispersed to schools of nursing and these institutions award the scholarships. These awards are also meant to secure additional faculty resources and provide mentoring and leadership development resources to students.

RWJF believes that the fast-track programs targeted provide the quickest and most efficient path to nursing certification and licensure for adults who already have bachelor’s degrees in other fields or who are seeking their master’s degree. In most other funding programs, already having a degree disqualifies them from competitions for aid with other students.

Additionally, by targeting more highly-educated potential nurses, the RWJF hopes to foster greater movement into the professional staff of nursing faculty. Studies show that those students who already have bachelor’s degrees who enroll in nursing programs are more likely to advance on to graduate degree programs and move up into the ranks of the teaching faculty.

Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Press Release. September 4, 2008.

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