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Nursing Scholarship Program

Understanding the Contract and Length of the Service Commitment

How many years of school does the contract cover?

The NSP award and contract is for the 2012-2013 school year (July 1, 2012 – June 30, 2013) and any additional school years (Optional Contracts) requested by the applicant and agreed to by the Secretary or his/her designee as indicated on the executed contracts. Support will be provided during the school years agreed to in the executed contracts (not to exceed 4 years), based on the cost of the initial school of record (i.e., the school attended at the time the initial contract is executed). If an NSP participant signs a contract for only 1 year of support, the 2012-2013 school year, his/her scholarship support will end on June 30, 2013, and a two-year service commitment will be incurred.

Can I request additional scholarship support after I receive my award?

Additional scholarship support will only be provided for the same nursing degree that the NSP participant’s original contract funded. To request additional scholarship support for the 2013-2014 school year or any subsequent school years, the NSP participant must submit a signed contract for that school year and a report verifying that he/she is still in an acceptable level of academic standing. The participant may also request optional contracts for subsequent school years through graduation for a maximum of 4 school years of support. The NSP will notify the participant when this submission is due.

The granting of continuation awards depends upon the availability of funds for the NSP and is contingent upon the participant’s:

1. Continued eligibility to participate in the NSP (acceptable level of academic standing, not repeating coursework, etc.).  Please be advised that a credit check will be conducted as part of the eligibility process;
2. Compliance with policies and procedures established by the NSP for requesting continued support; AND
3. Past compliance with program policies and requirements.

Participants requesting continued support must be able to financially support themselves until the scholarship benefit payment schedule can be reinstated. If a continuation award is granted, the first payment may not be received until mid-November but will include stipends retroactive to July 1 and the annual “other reasonable costs” (ORC) payment.

Can I terminate my contract?

The Secretary of Health and Human Services or his/her designee may terminate an NSP contract for a school year if the participant, on or before June 1st of the school year (1) submits a written request to terminate his or her contract for that school year; and (2) repays all amounts paid to, or on behalf of, that participant for that school year. If a scholarship participant does not meet these requirements, he or she will incur a service commitment for the full or partial year of support received, as set forth in the Program Requirements section of this Guidance.

How long is my service commitment?

All participants incur, at a minimum, a 2-year full-time service obligation (or part-time equivalent) and may have a longer service obligation, as set forth below. 

Participants who sign “Full-Time Student” contracts incur an obligation to provide one year of full-time service for each full or partial school year of support received beyond two years as set forth in the table below. For example, a student who receives a full year of support (12 months) the first school year, a partial year of support (6 months) the second school year, and a full year of support the third school year will owe the equivalent of 3 years of full-time clinical service. If a participant receives support for one year or less, there is still an obligation to serve two years.

Participants who sign “Part-Time Student” contracts will have their part-time enrollment aggregated to determine its full-time equivalent.  

next > Program Requirements