Most students know the anxiety of submitting a scholarship application, the worry of selection, and the final relief and joy at being rewarded for their hard work.

The University of North Dakota’s College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines recently experienced such a feeling, when it was awarded three out of five possible grants for North Dakota universities by the U.S. Health Resources and Service Administration.

One of the awards, the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program, is for undergraduate students; the other two are traineeship programs for graduate students, the Nurse Anesthetist Traineeship and the Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship (shared with North Dakota State University). Combined, the grants total over $1 million of federal funding.

The grants, part of the HRSA’s Health Workforce Grant program, sends funding right to the students, helping them stay financially stable as they work on their education. The college began receiving the grant money on July 1, which will be distributed over four years, as long as the college submits financial reports and status, similar to how students must keep up with their studies to continue getting scholarship aid.

“UND CNPD’s achievement in earning these grant awards not only helps our nursing students,” said College Dean Dr. Gayle Roux in a released article, “but also… helps reinforce our reputation as the premier nursing program in North Dakota.” There are six schools with undergraduate nursing programs in the state; the other schools awarded grants were NDSU and the University of Mary in Fargo and Bismarck, respectively.

The CNPD currently has 1,077 students enrolled in it- 500 prenursing, 318 junior and senior level nursing students, and 259 graduate students. The grants awarded will help all of these students finish their education and succeed in the fields beyond.

“The faculty and administration of all three departments within the College (Nursing, Nutrition and Dietics and Social Work) continue to seek out opportunities to support its students on their journey toward graduation and a rewarding professional experience,” Roux said.

It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes more than one department to graduate students; in a later interview,  Roux wished to acknowledge the continued support of the financial aid office in distributing the grant funding, as well as the RAIN (Recruitment-Retention of American Indians into Nursing) program. Specific thanks were extended to Dr. Chris Burd, who was the primary author for the application for the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students grant which, at $640k, was the largest single grant awarded to the college.

Connor Johnson is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]