Frequently Asked Questions

The Maximum Scholarship is $10,000 per person (if you are affiliated with a group which is also contributing to your scholarship (e.g., Lancaster County [VA] Lions Foundation), any funds you receive from that group will be in addition to the Maximum Scholarship, above.)

Please see the next FAQ, below, for information on the duration of the scholarship.

No, you do not have to be a full-time student. We know that many people who are pursuing education in nursing are already working, and many of those have families, so, as long as you are enrolled and making progress (i.e., earning credits each semester), you can feel confident in pursuing your education at a pace that best enables you to balance the demands of work, home, and school.

Yes, subject to the disbursement limits described elsewhere, the scholarship can be accessed for a maximum of 30 months from the State Date, which is usually July 1 of the award year and ending on January 31 thirty (30) months later (note that for 2026 the Start Date is September 1). This makes it possible for the scholarship recipient to draw on the scholarship for a full two years of courses.

Example: If scholarship is awarded on July 1, 2028, the last date a disbursement can be made is January 31, 2031, assuming funds from the recipient’s scholarship have not been drawn in full before that date.

Yes, the scholarship will provide up to two thousand five hundred ($2,500) dollars per semester (five thousand [$5,000] dollars per Academic Year*) OR the cost of Covered Charges (e.g., tuition and other mandatory fees) per semester or Academic Year, whichever is less.

* An academic year runs from July 1 through the following June 30.

To apply for a scholarship, you must be a citizen or document that you have legal residency in the United States.

We are currently accepting applications. All applications must be completed (i.e., both the online application and all supporting documents received by us) by July 31. Scholarship award decisions are emailed by the end of August.

Here’s a quick list of the documents you’ll need (more detail below):

• Gov’t-issued Photo ID

• Proof of U.S. Citizenship or Residency

• Proof of Nursing School Attendance/Acceptance

• FAFSA Submission Summary

• Brief Video Submission

You’ll also need the name and email address of the person(s) you will ask to write a Letter of Recommendation.

To be eligible for scholarship:

• your course of study must be related to earning a program, certificate, or degree in nursing, from initial GNA/CNA certifications up through a terminal degree (DNP, etc.); and,

• you must attend a nursing school or program that is currently accredited by either the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) and/or the Commission on the Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Click https://www.acenursing.org/search-programs to check if your school or program is accredited by ACEN.

Click https://directory.ccnecommunity.org/reports/accprog.asp to check if your school or program is accredited by CCNE.

We follow the IRS’ guidelines on “qualified education expenses,” so our Scholarships cover tuition, mandatory fees (e.g., fees which every student must pay to attend school and/or take a particular course); costs for room, board, insurance, and other non-course-related costs and fees are not covered and will remain your responsibility.

In addition, the scholarship can also provide up to $150 per semester for required books and mandatory course materials, subject to the $2,500/semester disbursement limit above.

Example 1: we calculate your eligible disbursement this semester as $2,200. Since $2,200+$150=$2,350, which is <$2,500 maximum disbursement/semester, we will add $150 for required books and course materials, resulting in a $2,350 scholarship disbursement check being sent to your school.

Example 2: we calculate your eligible disbursement this semester as $2,400. Since $2,400+$150=$2,550, which is >$2,500 maximum disbursement/semester, we will send a $2,500 scholarship disbursement check to your school.

Again, if you were awarded additional scholarship funds through one of our partners, your maximum disbursement each semester could be higher than $2,500.

No.

Yes, subject to the limits per semester/academic year, above, your scholarship may be used to pay for covered charges for courses taken during the summer term (the period between the end of the spring semester and beginning of the fall semester) and/or winter term (the period between the end of the fall semester and beginning of the spring semester). Again, scholarship funds paid for summer/winter terms will count towards the limit for the academic year.

No, scholarships do not depend on whether/where you work.

From February 15 through April 15 each year, you can click ApplyNow begin your application.

Your application will be evaluated and scored by three members of the Scholarship Review Committee.

We accept applications through April 15. Beginning April 15, we will review all applications and, within a few days of the 15th we will send an email to let each applicant know whether they will move on to the next round or if consideration of their application has ended for the current year (they can apply again next year if they wish to do so).

Tie scores between two or more applicants will be resolved by giving preference to the application with the earliest fully-completed submission timestamp.

Absolutely not. We collect this information for statistical analysis and reporting only. The Scholarship Review Committee has no access to this information.

Except as provided for in our Privacy Policy (see link in the footer), we never share any personal information about any of our applicants or scholarship recipients.

Minimum academic standards are a 2.75 cumulative GPA and that you are enrolled in and making progress (i.e., earning credits) each semester. Failure to meet minimum academic standards for one semester will result in you being placed in a probationary status. Failure to maintain minimum academic standards for two consecutive semesters will result in the loss of scholarship.

Scholarship funds are remitted from us directly to your school.

If you are also receiving scholarship funds from another entity, those funds would come directly from that other entity.

Our scholarship funds are paid out each semester. Before we can make a disbursement from your scholarship account each semester, you must submit a statement of account showing charges and anticipated awards for the coming semester. If the total of all anticipated credits, including scholarship monies from us, exceeds the total charges, we would reduce the amount we remit to your school by that same amount. In addition, if the anticipated usual semester disbursement from your account will result in you reaching the maximum scholarship amount, above, we would only disburse the amount remaining on your scholarship.

REMEMBER: we DO NOT count student loans when determining whether and how much we will pay from your Scholarship.

HOWEVER, funds you receive from other sources which do not have to be repaid (e.g., grants, scholarships, tuition reimbursement, etc.) WILL count and could impact the amount we can disburse for that semester.

When you request a disbursement, you will send us a printout of your student financial account, showing all the charges, payments, and credits from the beginning through the end of the prior semester. If that account history shows you received a refund >$250 from the school due to receiving excess grants, scholarships, etc. from other sources, we will deduct the amount of the refund in excess of the $250 from the next disbursement.

Again, REMEMBER, since we DO NOT count student loans towards funds you receive, there is NO LIMIT on the amount of refunds you can receive which are due to student loans.

Example 1 (No Student Loan):

$3,000 (Tuition and Fees)

$3,100 (Grants & scholarships from other sources [not us])

=>$100 refund from school

Since $100 < $250, there is no reduction to next disbursement.

Example 2 (Student Loan):

$3,000 (Tuition and Fees)

$2,000 (Grants & scholarships from other sources [not us])

$2,000 (Student Loans)

=>$1,000 refund from school

Since the refund was due to receipt of student loans, there is no reduction to the next disbursement.

Example 3:

$3,000 (Tuition and Fees)

$3,700 (Grants & scholarships from other sources [not us])

=>$700 refund from school

Since the $700 refund is >$250 and was due to receipt of excess grants and scholarships from other sources, we would deduct the difference ($450) from the amount we would disburse the next semester.

Yes! If your school operates on something other than the usual two-semester academic calendar, the amounts we might disburse from your Scholarship will be spread over the number of semesters or terms in your school’s Academic Year. If your school doesn’t use a 4.0 grading system, we will use the equivalent GPA based on your school’s grading system.