West Virginia Nursing Scholarship application opens today for 2020-21 academic year

CHARLESTON, W.VA. – The West Virginia Nursing Scholarship Program, which provides awards to Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN), Registered Nursing (RN), graduate and LPN teaching certificate students in exchange for service in West Virginia, is now accepting applications for the 2020-21 academic year. The program is administered by the West Virginia Center for Nursing in conjunction with the Higher Education Policy Commission.

“West Virginia needs more nurses, and that need is particularly evident right now as our health care workers fight on the front lines of the coronavirus battle across our state,” said Sarah Tucker, Interim Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission and Chancellor of the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia. “This scholarship is a direct path to great careers in West Virginia – careers that, so often, matter the most.”

To qualify for a scholarship, a nursing student must be a West Virginia resident, enrolled in an accredited West Virginia nursing program, and meet specific GPA requirements. In addition, they must agree to fulfill an in-state service obligation, which varies based on the type of nursing:

• LPN students are required to work full-time in West Virginia one year for every year they receive an award;
• RN students are required to work full-time in West Virginia two years for every year they receive an award;
• Graduate nursing students are required to work full-time as a nursing educator at a West Virginia school of nursing two years for every year they receive an award; and,
• LPN teaching certificate students are required to work full-time as an LPN instructor one year for every year they receive an award.

The service obligation full-time requirement can be met through more than one form of employment and all service obligations must be verified by the West Virginia Center for Nursing.

Applicants are asked to review eligibility requirements for their specific nursing programs. The application became available today and will remain open until June 1, 2020. It can be found online at http://wvcenterfornursing.org/wvcfn-scholarship/.