When considering your college options, you face one large issue; how to pay for your nursing education. These scholarship resources are sure to help.
If you are considering a nursing career, I congratulate you on a wise choice. The employment opportunities for registered nurses are expanding. New roles and specialties are being realized and the demand for healthcare services is increasing. Whether you are considering nursing as a second career or you are early in your working life and considering your college options you will still face one large issue – how to pay for your nursing education.
There are many resources from many sources on nursing scholarships and financial aid. In this post I will speak to a very narrow range of those sources – online resources. Even a casual search of web resources will bring you thousands of sites. The quality of these sites varies as many may be fronts for commercial ventures. I have done some searching and working from the skeptical perspective of a long-time nurse, I recommend these five sites.
Nursing Scholarship Websites
Scholarships.com is immense and has a significant nursing section. This is not a nursing specific website, but there are nursing and nurse practitioner sections. A simple, bare-bones site with a large selection of links. There is no profession specific information, only a list of scholarships and links.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has a wide selection broken into categories such as Scholarships for Undergraduates. This site states that this non-profit represents 823 member schools of nursing at public and private universities nationwide. The larger AACN website has more resources on the types of nursing programs and how to apply for nursing schools.
The most impressive scholarship assortment is Johnson and Johnson’s Paying for School. Johnson and Johnson is a longtime friend to nursing. You may even have seen their TV ads. These ads, like the one below, have spurred an influx of new nurses into the profession over the last decade.
Registerednursing.org provides general information on nursing as a career. There you’ll find a listing to a variety of scholarships along with a short summary of each source. The website also has information on nursing degrees, specialty careers state practice information.
Sherrod Wilkerson and Patrick Tufford work in the university setting in financial aid and student service offices. You will find a list of nursing scholarships here also. The authors also provide ample information on nursing school application and interview processes. This practical information was very informative and the core strength of this site.
Where to Start
My advice is to start with these pre-screened sites and then expand your search. None of these sites need registration or payment for access.
As a long time nurse, I thank you for your interest in the profession. Nursing offers meaningful work, a fair measure of job security and boundless opportunity. Thank you for your interest and I hope you find these resources helpful.