If you’re a nurse and want to increase your earning potential and expand your professional role within your field, becoming a nurse practitioner is an obvious path to take. You’ll enjoy a higher quality of life thanks to an increased salary, substantial bonuses and a overall knowledge within the profession. It takes a bit more time to attain the necessary credentials, and with that you’ll need more funds. There are plenty of Nurse Practitioner Scholarships available from various organizations to help pay for all the added expenses attaining a Master’s degree will entail. Funds directed toward students pursuing nurse practitioner careers are ways that organizations incentivize the career choices as there is a need for more professionals in the field. The nursing occupation, in general, has an excellent job outlook according to the BLS, yet some organizations feel encouragement is needed to inspire more individuals to advance to nurse practitioners. Below are a few Nurse Practitioner Scholarships that you can apply for.
National Health Service Corps Scholarship
This scholarship is open to anyone interested in becoming a physician, dentist, nurse practitioner, nurse-midwife or a physician assistant and is willing to serve under-represented communities after graduation. They’ll be awarded full tuition and fees (books, computer, laboratory, etc) plus a monthly stipend ($1,289) in return for a commitment to working in areas with the greatest healthcare needs. With this being such a generous scholarship, it’s quite competitive, and they require you to fulfill service obligations depending on how much you receive. In 2008, the first year of the program, 76 scholars received funds from this program and it’s been increasing steadily ever since. The National Health Service Corps is a valuable resources for those in the healthcare profession from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Tylenol Scholarships
This scholarship awards students enrolled in healthcare programs, either graduate or undergraduate, with a substantial amount of money. They award 190 scholarships a year; ten of those being worth $10,000; thirty more worth $5,000 and 150 scholarships worth $1,000. They require you provide transcripts of grades, any merit certificates you might have won in the past and information concerning volunteer activities you’ve engaged in. This is strictly a merit-based scholarship. Tylenol is quite generous to healthcare students as they annually provide $250,000 in scholarship funds to individuals from around the world. You can find information about the Tylenol Scholarship Program at their website.
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
This organization offers a number of scholarships and grants to registered members. The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Doctoral Scholarships awards $3,000 to eligible applicants. They have a Doctoral Student Scholarship worth either $3,000 or $2,000 (sort of a two-tier program with the grand prize winning the greater amount and runner-ups winning the latter). Their AANP Foundation NP Student Scholarship is worth $2,000. They also administer the Johnson & Johnson Doctoral and Student Scholarship which are both worth $3,500. The AANP recognizes that the need for nurse practitioners are great and so to encourage healthcare students to pursuing this profession, they incentivize with numerous scholarships and grants. You can learn more about eligibility requirements, application details and other information by visiting their website.
More Nurse Practitioner Scholarships
There are a number of other foundations and associations all dedicated to providing funds to those interested in becoming a nurse practitioner to help fill the need. With nursing still being a female dominated profession, there’s the American Assembly for Men in Nursing Foundation Scholarships which can award between $50 to $1,000 to eligible recipients. The AfterCollege website in partnership with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Scholarship offers $2,500 to students who can achieve at least a 3.25 GPA. There’s also the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners McNeil Scholarships which provides funds to students interested in working with children yet are in financial need to the amount of $2,000. To increase your chances of winning something it’s a good idea to apply to more than just one, if not all, of the scholarships listed in this article.
