Nursing Scholarship Program

Applicant Information Bulletin: School Year 2009-2010
Applicant Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following requirements in order to be eligible for scholarship awards.

1. U.S. Citizenship
   
   Scholarship applicants must be citizens or nationals of the United States (U.S.) to receive Nursing Scholarship awards.  Nationals are individuals who owe permanent allegiance to the U.S. and were born in certain outlying possessions of the U.S. (e.g., American Samoa and Swains Island) on or after the date of formal acquisition of such possession by the U.S.  All applicants must submit documentation to verify U.S. citizenship or status as a U.S. national (e.g., a copy of a birth certificate, a certificate of citizenship, passport or naturalization certificate) with the application material.  Permanent residents of the U.S. are not eligible to apply.
   
   
2. Enrollment in Accredited Nursing Schools and Programs 
   
   The nurse education program must be accredited by a national nurse education accrediting agency or State approval agency recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.  Currently, these agencies include the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC), Kansas Board of Nursing, Maryland Board of Nursing, Missouri Board of Nursing, Montana Board of Nursing, North Dakota Board of Nursing and New York Board of Nursing.
   
   To be considered for a scholarship award for the 2009-2010 school year, applicants must be enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a nursing degree program and must begin classes for the Fall term on or after July 1, 2009, and no later than September 30, 2009, in one of the following:
   
   
   1. AN ASSOCIATE DEGREE SCHOOL OF NURSING - A department, division, or other administrative unit in a junior college, community college, college, or university which provides primarily or exclusively a two-year program of education in professional nursing and allied subjects leading to an associate degree in nursing or to an equivalent degree and is an accredited program;
      
      
   2. A COLLEGIATE SCHOOL OF NURSING - A department, division, or other administrative unit in a college or university which provides primarily or exclusively a program of education in professional nursing and related subjects leading to a degree of bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, bachelor of nursing, graduate degree in nursing, or to an equivalent degree, and including advanced training related to such program of education provided by such school and is an accredited program; or 
      
      
   3. A DIPLOMA SCHOOL OF NURSING - A school affiliated with a hospital or university, or an independent school, which provides primarily or exclusively a program of education in professional nursing and allied subjects leading to a diploma or to equivalent training and is an accredited program.
      

PLEASE NOTE:  STUDENTS ENROLLED IN LPN PROGRAMS, SELF-PACED STUDY PROGRAMS (ON-LINE), BRIDGE PROGRAMS AND DUAL DEGREE PROGRAMS ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR A SCHOLARSHIP AWARD. 

Full-Time or Part-Time Enrollment

Applicants may be enrolled as full-time or part-time students; however, a funding preference will be given to full-time students.  See “Funding Preferences and Awards.”

A student will be considered full-time if the student meets the nursing school program's definition of a full-time student. A less than full-time student will be considered part-time if the student is enrolled on at least a half-time basis.  Students who are enrolled on a less than half-time basis are ineligible to participate in the NSP.  

ALL STUDENTS - PLEASE NOTE:  Individuals planning to be on a leave of absence from school such that they will not begin class attendance on or before September 30, 2009, should not submit an application this year, but may apply next year.  Please be advised that any non-required or unrelated courses will not count toward the schools’ required hours in determining full-time or part-time status. 

Schools and Programs Must be Located in a State

The schools and educational programs for which scholarship support is requested must be in a State (includes the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Territory of Guam, the Territory of American Samoa, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia).  Students attending schools outside of these geographic areas are not eligible for Nursing Scholarships, even though they may be citizens of the United States.

Submission of Signed Contract

To be eligible for an NSP scholarship, the statute requires that an applicant sign and submit a contract.  The contract is for the 2009-2010 school year with contract extensions for up to 3 subsequent school years, not to exceed a total of 4 school years of NSP scholarship support.  The 2009-2010 contract, if countersigned by the Secretary or his/her designee, obligates the applicant to the minimum 2-year service commitment.  Therefore, applicants are strongly encouraged to sign the 2009-2010 contract and an optional contract for the 2010-2011 school year, if the applicant will need additional support for all or part of the subsequent school year (2010-2011).  The contract(s) must be signed by the student through the date of graduation in order for the student to receive support through the date of graduation.  Before an applicant decides not to request scholarship support through his/her graduation date, the applicant should read the Continuing Support after the 2009-2010 School Year section of this Bulletin.

No Judgment Lien for a Federal Debt

An applicant must be free of any judgment lien against his/her property arising from a debt owed to the United States.  Debtors with judgment liens for Federal debts are ineligible to receive Federal financial assistance. Please be advised that a credit check will be conducted as part of the application process.

No Exclusion or Disqualification from Covered Transactions 

The receipt of funding under the NSP is a “covered transaction” pursuant to Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 180, as adopted by HHS pursuant to 2 CFR Part 376.  Before entering into a scholarship  contract, the applicant is required, under Subpart C of Part 180, to report certain information, which is described in the “Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Disqualification and Related Matters.”The applicant should sign the Certification that is applicable to his/her situation. 

Individuals who are currently excluded (suspended or debarred) or disqualified by any Federal agency from participating in covered transactions are ineligible to receive an award under the NSP.  Individuals with reportable problems other than exclusion or disqualification may, or may not, be selected to participate in the NSP, based on the Program’s consideration and evaluation of the applicant’s circumstances.

As a condition of participating in the NSP, a participant must agree to comply with the requirements of Subpart C of Part 180, which include providing immediate written notice to DAA if the applicant learns that he/she failed to make a required disclosure or that a disclosure is now required due to changed circumstances.

No Conflicting Service Commitments

Applicants, except military reservists, who are already obligated to a Federal, State or other entity for professional practice or service after academic training are not eligible for NSP awards.   An exception may be made if the obligating entity provides documentation that there is no potential conflict in fulfilling the service commitment to the NSP and that the NSP service commitment will be served first. 

A scholarship recipient who meets the above exception should not expect to serve in a State, community, or medical facility to which the recipient already owes a commitment for service. The NSP cannot make any such advance placement commitments to NSP recipients.

Scholarship recipients, except military reservists, who subsequently enter other service commitments and  are not immediately available after completion of their degrees to fulfill their scholarship service commitments, will be subject to the breach-of-contract provisions described later in this Bulletin. 

Members of a Reserve Component of the Armed Forces

Individuals in the Reserve component of the Armed Forces or National Guard are eligible to participate in the NSP. However, reservists should understand the following:

• First, military training or service performed by reservists will not satisfy the NSP service commitment. If a participant's military training and/or service, in combination with the participant's other absences from the service site, exceed 7 weeks (28 work days) per service year, the participant should request a suspension.   See Waiver, Suspension or Cancellation of The Commitment. for more information. The NSP service commitment end date will be extended to compensate for the break in NSP service.
• Second, if the critical shortage facility where the reservist was serving at the time of his/her deployment is unable to re-employ that reservist, the participant must transfer to another critical shortage facility to complete his/her remaining NSP service commitment. Any expenses associated with the participant’s transfer are wholly the responsibility of said participant.  In some cases, a participant may be asked to sign an employment contract with the facility, which extends beyond the completion date of his/her NSP service commitment. 
  
  

CERTIFICATION REGARDING DEBARMENT, SUSPENSION, DISQUALIFICATION AND RELATED MATTERS

Pursuant to 2 CFR 180.335 (2006) as implemented by 2 CFR 376.10 (2007), an applicant applying to enter into a covered transaction (which includes an application to participate in this program) is required to notify the Federal agency office if the applicant knows that he or she:

• Is presently debarred, suspended, excluded, or disqualified from participation in covered transactions by any Federal agency or department;
• Within the 3-year period preceding the application, has been convicted of, or had a civil judgment rendered against him or her for any of the following offenses:
  • commission of fraud or a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or performing a public (Federal, State, or local) transaction or a contract under a public transaction;
  • violation of Federal or State antitrust statutes; or
  • commission of embezzlement, theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records, making false statements, tax evasion, receiving stolen property, making false claims, or obstruction of justice;
  • Is presently indicted or otherwise criminally or civilly charged by a governmental entity (Federal, State, or local) with the commission of any of the offenses set forth above; or
  • Within a 3-year period preceding the application, has had any public transaction (Federal, State, or local) terminated for cause or default.

Next Section > Funding Preferences & Awards