Students are encouraged to investigate sources of financial assistance beyond what is offered by UCSF and the federal and state governments. Scholarships are gifts. They do not have to be repaid. There are thousands of them, offered by schools, employers, individuals, private companies, nonprofits, communities, religious groups, and professional and social organizations. Explore these scholarships opportunities from business clubs, professional groups, medical and nursing societies, sororities and fraternities, parents’ credit or company unions, and other organizations.
We understand that financing your education can be costly and that some students take out loans. To that end, the UCSF School of Nursing has a Student Funding Officer who can assist you with the scholarship process, from finding and applying for scholarships to guiding you through the simple methods of how to approach organizing the search.
Free Scholarship Search Websites
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing
- Grapes, UCLA’s Graduate & Postdoctoral Support Database
- FastWeb, free scholarship searches
- Scholarships.com, free scholarship searches
- Finaid, The Smart Student Guide to Financial Aid
- Discovering Nursing
- Pivot COS
- Tylenol
- Nursing Educational Funds, Inc — Graduate nursing students can apply for annual master's or doctoral scholarships. The scholarship process opens every year on Oct. 1 for four months and closes the following Feb. 1.
- Minority Nurse
- American Nurse Practitioners Foundation
- Caring.com
Agency Specific Grant Websites
- Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HRSA offers over a dozen grant programs related to nursing education and training. Funds are granted directly to education programs to help students pay for costs such as tuition, fees, books, room and board.
- See the one-page handout about the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program, which provides financial support to students pursuing a career in primary health care in exchange for practicing in rural, urban and tribal communities with limited access to care.
- As part of Health Resources and Services Administration's efforts to combat the nation's opioid crisis, special Nurse Corps' funding is being provided for nurse practitioner students specializing in psychiatric mental health. Learn more and apply.
- NIH Guide
- Grants.gov is the federal government’s online application system. It provides one central portal where organizations and individuals can electronically find and apply for grants throughout the federal government. Grants.gov is the single access point for over 1,000 grant programs offered by the 26 federal agencies that make grants.
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA's mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities. Find funding opportunities that support programs for substance use disorders and mental illness, and learn about the grant application, review and management process.