After years of working a dead-end job, you decided to take your career in a different direction. Now, your goal is to join the more than 3.8 million nurses who work in the United States!
One of the biggest hurdles on the path to your new career is a lack of funds. Medical education costs big bucks and you don’t have enough to pay out of pocket.
Don’t worry! There are many ways to get financial aid to help you go to nursing school. Keep reading to learn our favorite 3 strategies for finding and winning nursing scholarships.
1. Look For Local Scholarships
It may seem trivial to look for small, local scholarship opportunities, but those are much easier to win. With fewer people applying, statistics lean more in your favor.
Look for local organizations that offer scholarships for nursing school and apply for as many as you can. Often, social or professional organizations offer scholarships as a way to give back to the community.
If you worked in any healthcare-related jobs in the past, ask if they offer any scholarships for potential nurses. If not, they could also offer a tuition reimbursement program where you get your money back if you pass your classes.
2. Online Scholarship Search Engines
One of the most common methods of paying for education is going online and looking for scholarships. Many companies have created search engines to help match students to scholarships they qualify for. You’ll find lots of types of scholarships online that you qualify to apply for.
Sometimes, you’ll need to fill out a basic entry form while other scholarships ask for well-thought-out essays. Make sure to check for deadlines though because not all online search engines have the most up-to-date information.
3. School Specific Nursing Scholarships
Another way to find scholarship opportunities is to check with local schools and educational institutions. They may offer or know of scholarships you can apply for.
You don’t even need to go to that specific school. Check for the scholarship rules before you apply to make sure you qualify before you fill out the application.
Also, if you’re a member of any educational organization, they may have scholarships to offer. For example, sigma theta tau has a $10,000 scholarship sweepstakes for anyone who has an email address and a name!
Nurses Have All the Patients
After you finish school, you’ll feel great about helping so many people. Nurses save lives all the time, so many people view them as everyday heroes like firemen or police officers!
The last thing you want to do is accumulate tons of debt so you can go save lives! That’s why it’s important to apply for as many scholarships as possible.
We hope you enjoyed reading this article and that you learned strategies for finding nursing scholarships. If you’re looking for more articles about topics like business, health, and more, check out the rest of our blog today!
