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Specialized Education and Funding Opportunities

The UT Health Science Center College of Nursing offers several unique educational opportunities for nursing students that include funding for their programs of study.

Through these programs, the college strives to offer diverse educational opportunities for our students and to meet the workforce needs of the communities we serve.

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Students and faculty members took a Women's Health Expo to Lauderdale County as part of the UTHSC Nursing Mobile Health Outreach.

Man with brown hair and glasses

Lucas Parrish, BSN, RN
STEPS in Nursing Scholar
“I would 100% recommend doing the OR Scholars program because you learn so much, you work at a different pace than on the floor, and you get to feel more confident in what you are doing as a nurse.”

Baptist Scholars Program

This program is open to students in the accelerated (12-month) Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. Participating students have a workforce opportunity with Baptist Memorial Health Care, which requires the student to sign a one-year contract to work for Baptist upon graduation. In return, Baptist will pay the student’s in-state tuition and fees for the 12-month nursing program. For more information, please contact Dr. Laura Reed at lreed@uthsc.edu.

STEPS in Nursing Scholars

This program is open to students in the traditional (four-semester) BSN program. Participating students receive a paid summer internship in the operating room, catheterization lab, or emergency department at Baptist Memorial Health Care.  After the internship, the student works 16 hours per month in the specific unit at Baptist while finishing nursing school. In return, Baptist pays the in-state tuition and fees for the student’s last year of nursing school. For more information, please contact Dr. Laura Reed at lreed@uthsc.edu.

Oncology Nursing Scholars

The Oncology Nurse Scholars Program is open to traditional BSN students. These students will complete additional training in an oncology setting and additional didactic education in oncology. They will also complete clinical rotations in oncology during the summer. In addition, the students agree to work in an oncology clinic upon graduation. In return, the student’s in-state tuition and fees are paid for the last year of nursing school.

Oncology Clinical Trial Nurse Scholars Program

This program is open to traditional BSN students. Participating students will complete additional didactic education in oncology research and clinical education in an oncology research setting. Students agree to work in an oncology setting upon graduation. In return, the student’s in-state tuition/tuition and fees are paid for the last year of nursing school. For more information, please contact Dr. Laura Reed at lreed@uthsc.edu.

Rural Health and Education

 Rural and Underserved Health Care Scholars

This program is open to both accelerated and traditional BSN students. Participating BSN students have the opportunity to earn eight micro-credentials to attain the designation of a Rural and Underserved Nurse. Students may complete up to two credentials per semester, earning $500 per credential to use toward their tuition. Once all eight credentials are earned, the student receives an additional $1,000 for a maximum of $5,000 upon completion of the program.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students also have an opportunity to participate in rural and underserved health care. Participating DNP students will complete a Quality Improvement project with a rural clinical partner. These students will receive a stipend of 50% of their tuition, plus $2,500 to pay for conference travel and to distribute the project results.  For more information on the BSN Rural Scholars, please contact Dr. Christie Manasco at cmanasco@uthsc.edu. For more information on the DNP Rural Scholars program, please contact Dr. Laura Reed at lreed@uthsc.edu.

 Delta Nurse Scholars Program

This program seeks to improve the transition and retention of BSN graduates to rural hospitals. It is open to students in the traditional BSN program. Participating students receive additional training in caring for people living with sickle cell disease, managing aggressive patient situations, and social drivers of health. A micro-credentialing process will be used to award medallions for completed work in specific concepts.

The Delta Scholars project team will work with representatives from the hospitals to help student nurses obtain a paid nurse internship during their summer break and continuing through the final semesters of their nursing program. For senior nursing students in this program, in-state tuition, books, and fees will be covered. The program will also assist the new nurse graduates’ transition to practice. For more information about the Delta Nurse Scholars program, please contact Dr. Randy Johnson at rjohn181@uthsc.edu.

Jan 29, 2025