Project EARN: Educating Alabama Rural Nurses
Interested in becoming a registered nurse? Want $16,000 toward your education?
In summer 2020, The University of West Alabama College of Nursing was awarded a $2.4 million grant over a five-year period by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration. This funding is designed to increase nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who face significant barriers entering and successfully completing a nursing program.
How Much of a Scholarship Will I Get?
Project EARN provides a $4,000 scholarship each semester. A $350 stipend is also awarded in a student’s final semester of nursing school to help offset the costs associated with licensure.
Is Project EARN for Me?
Project EARN scholarships are awarded to full-time students who are accepted to UWA and meet the nursing program admission requirements. Potential nursing students will have the opportunity to complete a Project EARN application the fall before they enter the nursing program. A person must be either economically disadvantaged as determined by the U.S. Poverty Guidelines or educationally disadvantaged. Applicants deemed educationally disadvantaged are those who are: 1) first-generation college students, 2) attended a high school with a low College and Career Readiness score, or 3) attended a high school with a large percentage of students who receive free or reduced lunch.
What Is Involved in Project EARN?
Project EARN students will receive individualized mentoring by a faculty member as well as the services of a Retention Coach. The mentor and retention coach will work together to create a success plan that caters to each individual students’ needs in order to best position them to progress and graduate from the UWA DON.
What Is the Intended Impact?
Students will be prepared to enter a workforce that is currently experiencing a critical need for healthcare professionals. Each Project EARN graduate will also strengthen and improve the nursing workforce for the Southeast, particularly rural parts of Alabama and Mississippi.
Be a part of transforming the workforce and making a difference in the lives of those in our regional community! Please submit any additional questions to projectearn@uwa.edu.
