Scholarships for Nursing Students in Delaware

The demand for LPNs in Delaware is expected to go up 26% and the demand for RNs by 28%. This makes nursing an area of high need. One way that the state attracts a qualified workforce is through grants and nursing scholarships. Need is often taken into account when making funding decisions; Delaware institutions are more likely to offer assistance to those who would struggle to make it through nursing school in a reasonable time frame on their own. Merit is also taken into account. The purpose of nursing scholarships is to attract exemplary students to the profession in Delaware. Thus some programs start out as loans, but essentially become grants when all requirements are met.

Nursing Scholarship Requirements in Delaware

The DEDOE (Delaware Department of Education) Nursing Incentive Program is an excellent opportunity for Delaware’s future nurses. Students can apply as early as their senior year of high school, but moneys aren’t actually repaid until they serve at a state-owed clinic or hospital for a period that matches the length of their loan. This could be just a year or could be several years. There are six qualifying hospitals, including Delaware Veterans Hospital, Delaware Psychiatric Center, and the Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill. Who is eligible? Those entering the profession for the first time will be considered if they have a college GPA or an unweighted high school GPA of 2.5. RNs who already have five or more years of service to the state may enroll in RN to BSN programs at state expense. Generally, applicants must be state residents, but employees of the state of Delaware are eligible even if they do not have residency status. Part of the application process entails writing a essay.

Are there scholarships available if you don’t have costs covered through the Incentive Program or aren‘t ready to make a work service commitment? Delaware residents enrolled in in-state or out-of -state nursing programs can apply for the Margaret A. Stafford Nursing Scholarship, a one time award offered through the Delaware Community Foundation. There is an April 1 deadline.

The Foundation administers a number of other scholarships. Students can now fill out a single application with the foundation and it will be screened and sent to various scholarship competitions that are a potential match. Woodridge High School seniors who have been accepted into nursing programs, for example, are eligible for the Margaret Lynch Davis Memorial Scholarship. There are also Foundation scholarships that are not specifically geared toward nursing that a applicant may be simultaneously qualified for, based on such factors as race or gender or the school they have graduated from or currently attend.

Nursing Scholarship Professional Advice – DE

It is important to both you and the scholarship committee that you have the skills to be successful in the nursing profession and indeed in a setting where there may be moderate levels of stress. Let those skills shine forth in your essay! Do keep in mind who your audience is: In a sense, in some competitions for nursing scholarships, it is your future employer. Don’t, however, get discouraged from entering because you feel like others may have more interesting experiences or higher GPAs. A representative of a nursing scholarship committee shared recently that candidates should keep in mind that recipient selection is a multi-faceted process, and candidates shouldn’t get too hung up on any one thing… except, perhaps, for making sure that the application is complete! It appears that many people do get eliminated from scholarship competitions for incomplete applications packages.

Contact Information for Nursing Scholarships in Delaware

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