Nursing Scholarships for Graduate Students

Nursing Scholarships

Each entry below gives the award's amount, who can apply and the most recent or upcoming application cycle, as the sponsor states them, and each award name links to the sponsor's own page. Sponsors change their rules from year to year, so confirm the details on the sponsor's page before you apply.

Oncology Nursing Foundation Master's Scholarship

Sponsor: Oncology Nursing Foundation

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a registered nurse.
• Must be enrolled in, accepted to or have applied to a master's degree program in a relevant field at an accredited institution for the 2027–2028 academic year.
• Must have an interest in and commitment to oncology nursing and be in good academic standing.

Amount: $5,000; an individual can receive the award once. Recipients complete a post-graduation survey and return any unused funds.

Application cycle: Opened September 15, 2026; applications are due February 1, 2027.

To Apply: See the foundation's master's scholarships page (linked above).

NAHN Abbott Scholarship Fund

Sponsor: National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN)

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a NAHN member in good standing before the application deadline.
• Must be enrolled in a BSN program, a nurse practitioner path program (MSN or DNP) or a PhD program. At the graduate level, only nurse practitioner path and PhD students qualify.
• Must explain your financial need and your interest in research.

Amount: $10,000 each to eight recipients in 2026: four nursing students, one nurse practitioner path student and three PhD path students.

Application cycle: Applications for 2026 are closed; NAHN posts each new cycle on its scholarships page.

To Apply: See NAHN's scholarships page (linked above).

Caroline E. Holt Nursing Scholarship

Sponsor: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be accepted into or currently enrolled in an accredited school of nursing.
• Must show financial need.
• Must provide proof of U.S. citizenship with the application, as DAR's scholarship portal requires for every award.

Amount: A one-time $2,500 scholarship to each of three students.

Application cycle: DAR's application portal is open each year from November 1 through January 31; the current deadline is January 31, 2027.

To Apply: See the Holt scholarship listing (linked above).

Mildred Nutting Nursing Scholarship

Sponsor: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be accepted into or currently enrolled in an accredited school of nursing.
• Must show financial need; preference goes to applicants from the greater Lowell, Massachusetts, area.
• Must provide proof of U.S. citizenship with the application.

Amount: A one-time $2,000 scholarship to each of two students.

Application cycle: The current deadline is January 31, 2027.

To Apply: See the Nutting scholarship listing (linked above).

NADONA Memorial Scholarships

Sponsor: National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration (NADONA)

Eligibility Criteria:

• Open to undergraduate and graduate nursing students enrolled in an accredited nursing program who are committed to a career in long-term care or assisted living after graduation.
• NADONA announced its 2026 recipients under the name Nurse Scholarship Awards, formerly the Stephanie Carroll Scholarship, according to the 2026 announcement from co-sponsor PharMerica.

Application cycle: Submissions are open; the deadline is April 15, 2027.

To Apply: See NADONA's scholarships page (linked above).

Senator Patricia K. McGee Nursing Faculty Scholarship

Sponsor: New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC)

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a registered nurse licensed in New York State with an undergraduate degree.
• Must be enrolled full time or part time in an approved master's or doctoral program in nursing, or a related program, at a New York college that qualifies graduates to teach as nursing or adjunct clinical faculty, with a GPA of 3.0 or higher after the first graduate semester.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen and a New York resident for 12 continuous months. Students who do not meet these rules may be able to qualify through the NYS DREAM Act by applying for DREAM Act eligibility before submitting the scholarship application.
• Must file the FAFSA and New York's TAP application, or the DREAM Act application, each year.
• Must agree to teach at least 12 academic credit hours a year, or the equivalent, for four years as nursing or adjunct clinical faculty at a New York institution, starting within three years of finishing the degree. If the service is not completed, the award converts to a 10-year student loan plus interest.

Amount: Up to $20,000 a year, not to exceed the average cost of attendance for New York resident graduate students at a state-operated SUNY campus and reduced by other aid, for up to three academic years of graduate study.

Application cycle: HESC lists the program as closed and has not posted the next application period.

To Apply: See HESC's McGee scholarship page (linked above).

Kay F. Fullwood Northeast Florida Geriatric Nursing Scholarship Fund

Sponsor: Florida Nurses Foundation

Eligibility Criteria:

• Open to nursing students who live in Nassau, Duval, Baker, Clay or Bradford County, Florida, and are enrolled in an accredited graduate nursing program with a focus on geriatrics, and to practicing geriatric nurse practitioners enrolled in an accredited DNP program.
• Florida-licensed geriatric nurses may also apply for help presenting geriatric studies or research.
• Applicants do not apply for a named scholarship; the foundation's trustees match each application to the scholarships it qualifies for.

Application cycle: The foundation's annual scholarship window runs January 1 to June 1; the 2026 window has closed.

To Apply: See the foundation's available scholarships page (linked above).

Alameda County Scholarship

Sponsor: California Nurses Foundation, for members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC)

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a CNA/NNOC member from Alameda County, California, enrolled in a formal education program. The fund also supports members attending conferences and classes.

Application cycle: Applications for the 2026/2027 cycle are closed; the 2027/2028 cycle opens in mid-April 2027.

To Apply: See the union's member scholarships page (linked above).

Colorado Nurses Foundation Scholarships

Sponsor: Colorado Nurses Foundation

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a Colorado resident accepted into an accredited nursing program. Graduate applicants can be registered nurses enrolled in a baccalaureate or higher degree program, registered nurses with a master's in nursing who practice in Colorado and are enrolled in a doctoral program, or students in the second or third year of a DNP or PhD program. Graduate students need a GPA of 3.5 or higher.
• One application covers 12 named scholarships, including one for a graduate student who intends to practice nursing education. Some awards, such as the Virginia Paulson Scholarship, require membership in the Colorado Nurses Association or the Colorado Student Nurses Association.

Application cycle: The 2026 application was open from September 1 to October 15, 2026.

To Apply: See the foundation's scholarships page (linked above).

March of Dimes Graduate Nursing Scholarship

Sponsor: March of Dimes, supported by Pampers

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a registered nurse enrolled in an accredited master's or doctoral nursing program.
• Must show a commitment to maternal and infant health.

Amount: $10,000 per recipient.

Application cycle: Applications for 2026 are closed; the next cycle has not been announced.

To Apply: See the March of Dimes nursing scholarships page (linked above).

NLN Nursing Education Scholarship Award

Sponsor: National League for Nursing (NLN) Foundation for Nursing Education

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a master's or doctoral student in an accredited program who plans a full-time career as a nurse educator, and must show that completing the program or project is feasible (for example, an approved capstone project or a defended dissertation proposal). For the 2026 cycle, applicants needed at least one full year of study completed by May 2026.
• Must be an NLN member, individually or through your school.

Amount: Up to $8,000 each year.

Application cycle: The 2026 window ran February 23 to May 19, 2026; applications reopen in February 2027.

To Apply: See the NLN Foundation's scholarship application page (linked above).

Nurses Educational Funds Scholarships

Sponsor: Nurses Educational Funds (NEF)

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must hold a current U.S. registered nurse license, belong to a national nursing association or an international nursing honor society, and be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
• Must be enrolled full or part time in a professionally accredited nursing program, with a GPA of 3.6. Master's applicants need a bachelor's degree in nursing (or the equivalent, for entry-level master's programs) and at least 12 graded graduate credits. Doctoral applicants (PhD, DNP, DNAP or EdD) who hold a bachelor's and a master's degree need at least 12 graded credits; students in accelerated BSN-to-doctoral programs, including those without a master's in nursing, need at least 40 graded credits. Pass/fail credits do not count, and post-graduate certificate students are not eligible.

Application cycle: Open from October 1, 2026, to February 1, 2027.

To Apply: See NEF's application page (linked above).

Deborah E. Trautman Future Nurse Leader Scholarship

Sponsor: American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), funded by Liaison International

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a master's or doctoral nursing student in good standing at an AACN member school affiliated with NursingCAS, with high academic achievement and a record of commitment to academic nursing.
• Must join AACN's Graduate Nursing Student Academy, which is free.
• Recipients must sign a commitment to complete a three-day leadership development program; the scholarship funding is forfeited if it is not completed.

Amount: $5,000 in total: $3,500 to the student for educational expenses and up to $1,500 for travel to an AACN student conference. Two awards are made each year.

Application cycle: The window runs August 31 to October 30 each year; the 2026 window closes October 30, 2026.

To Apply: See AACN's Trautman scholarship page (linked above).

Nurse Practitioner Scholarships

Nurse practitioner (NP) students can apply for the general awards above and for awards from NP associations, most of which require membership. If you are still choosing a program, compare family nurse practitioner programs first.

AANP Scholarship Program

Sponsor: American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be an AANP member and a licensed registered nurse enrolled in an accredited U.S. graduate NP program (master's NP track, DNP or PhD) with at least one semester completed.
• Past AANP scholarship recipients are not eligible. In the 2026 cycle, applicants had to finish their program between August 2026 and July 2027.

Amount: $2,500 to $5,000, paid to the school for tuition; funds return to AANP if the student withdraws or defers.

Application cycle: The 2026 cycle closed March 18, 2026.

To Apply: See AANP's scholarships page (linked above).

NAPNAP Foundation DNP/PhD Student Scholarship

Sponsor: National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) Foundation

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a NAPNAP member in a pediatric-focused NP track of an accredited DNP program (post-master's or BSN-to-DNP), or in a pediatric-focused PhD program, and expect to graduate within three years.
• Must have a GPA of 3.5 to 4.0; past recipients are not eligible.

Amount: $5,000 for educational expenses, used within one year of the award.

Application cycle: The 2026 deadline was August 28, 2026.

To Apply: See the foundation's grants and scholarships page (linked above).

AACN Professional Nursing Scholarship

Sponsor: American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Foundation for Academic Nursing

Eligibility Criteria:

• Must be a doctoral student enrolled in a family nurse practitioner program at an AACN member school, with a GPA of 3.5.
• Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and submit a letter from the graduate program director.

Amount: $2,500 each to three students.

Application cycle: Applications close December 15, 2026.

To Apply: See AACN's Professional Nursing Scholarship page (linked above).

Are There Federal Grants for MSN Students?

Not in the usual sense. Pell Grants are limited to undergraduates who have not yet earned a bachelor’s degree, except for some teacher certification programs, and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) is limited to undergraduate students, according to the Federal Student Aid Handbook's FSEOG chapter.

If you still need a bachelor's degree, see our guide to online BSN programs. Of the federal programs below, the Nurse Corps and NHSC scholarships from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) pay for school in exchange for service, and HRSA's Nurse Faculty Loan Program cancels part of a loan in exchange for teaching.

Nurse Corps Scholarship

HRSA's Nurse Corps Scholarship pays tuition, fees and other educational costs, plus a monthly stipend, for students accepted to or enrolled in a nursing degree program at an accredited U.S. school of nursing. Its 2026–27 program guidance requires applicants to be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals or lawful permanent residents without an existing service obligation for professional practice, and says every part of the award is taxed as income. HRSA's program comparison includes nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, clinical nurse specialist and nurse anesthetist students at the graduate level, and requires at least two years of full-time service at a critical shortage facility after graduation.

A scholar who breaches the contract must repay all scholarship payments received, including amounts withheld for federal taxes, plus interest, within three years of the default. The 2026 application cycle has closed, and HRSA has not yet posted dates for the next one.

National Health Service Corps Scholarship

The NHSC Scholarship is open to U.S. citizens and nationals enrolled full time in nurse practitioner programs in adult, family, geriatric, primary care pediatric, psychiatric-mental health and women's health specialties, and in nurse-midwife programs. Under its 2026–27 guidance, acute care NP programs are not eligible; the scholarship pays tuition and eligible fees, an annual payment for other reasonable costs and a monthly stipend of about $1,648 before tax; and scholars serve one year for each year of support, for at least two and up to four years, at an NHSC-approved site in a health professional shortage area.

A scholar who leaves school or is dismissed must repay all scholarship funds within three years. A scholar who does not begin or complete the service owes damages based on three times the award plus interest, reduced in proportion to the months already served, payable within one year. The 2026 cycle ran March 17 to April 16, 2026. To learn what the work involves, read our guide on becoming a nurse practitioner.

Nurse Faculty Loan Program

Through HRSA's Nurse Faculty Loan Program, participating schools make loans to students in master's or doctoral nursing programs who plan to teach. After graduation, full-time service as nurse faculty cancels 20% of the loan and interest in each of the first three years and 25% in the fourth, up to 85% in all. Students apply through their school's financial aid office if the school takes part.

Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program

If you are already borrowing, the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program pays 60% of qualifying unpaid nursing education loans for two years of service at a critical shortage facility or as nurse faculty, and an optional third year adds 25%. Registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses and nurse faculty can apply; the 2026 cycle has closed.

Federal Loan Limits for Graduate Nursing Students

Under the Department of Education's final rule, graduate and professional students who are new borrowers cannot take Grad PLUS loans from July 1, 2026. Direct Unsubsidized Loans are capped at $20,500 a year and $100,000 in total for graduate students, and at $50,000 a year and $200,000 in total for professional students. These are maximums. Under the department's loan limit rules, a loan cannot exceed your cost of attendance minus other aid; for less-than-full-time enrollment in most programs, the annual amount is reduced in proportion (non-term programs are treated differently); and a school may set a lower limit for everyone in a program.

The totals are not a fresh allowance for each degree: under the final rule, earlier graduate or professional borrowing counts toward them. A lifetime maximum of $257,500 applies to federal student loans other than Parent PLUS loans. Students enrolled in their program on June 30, 2026, and who received a Direct Loan for it before July 1, 2026, keep the earlier rules for the lesser of three academic years or the time left in the program.

Whether an MSN counts as a professional degree is unsettled. The final rule did not treat graduate nursing as professional, but after a federal court stayed that part of the rule on June 24, 2026, the department placed MSN, DNP, and nurse anesthesia (DNAP) programs on an interim list of professional programs for as long as the stay lasts (last updated October 23, 2026). The department says the list may change as the litigation proceeds and that schools may still limit borrowing to the graduate amounts.

The list does not include PhD programs in nursing. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing describes the nursing designations as interim, provided only to carry out the court's order.

How to Apply for MSN Scholarships

1. File the FAFSA. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the year you will enroll. The Department of Education announced on September 23, 2026, that the 2027–28 FAFSA is live for the public. Some awards require a financial aid application every year; New York's McGee scholarship, for example, requires the FAFSA and TAP application, or the DREAM Act application.
2. Join the right associations early. AANP, NAPNAP, NLN and NAHN awards require membership, and AACN's Trautman scholarship requires its free Graduate Nursing Student Academy membership. Join before the application window opens.
3. Plan around nursing's award calendar. Several national awards open in the fall and close in winter (the Oncology Nursing Foundation, NEF and DAR awards above), while others run in late winter and spring (NLN, AANP and the 2026 NHSC cycle). Note each deadline and its cycle year.
4. Ask your program's financial aid office. School-funded scholarships are listed by each program, not on this page. Ask about them, and ask whether the school takes part in the Nurse Faculty Loan Program.
5. Ask your employer about tuition assistance. Under IRS rules for educational assistance programs, an employer can provide up to $5,250 a year for undergraduate or graduate courses without it counting as income.
6. Avoid scholarship scams. The Federal Trade Commission warns students never to pay to apply for a scholarship; see its guide to scholarship scams.

MSN Scholarships: Frequently Asked Questions

How can you get a master's in nursing for free?

No program guarantees a free MSN. The routes that can cover most of the cost are the HRSA service-commitment scholarships described in the federal grants section above and employer tuition assistance. Each carries conditions, such as years of required service, so read the obligation before you apply.

What's the difference between a grant and a scholarship for MSN programs?

Both are aid you do not repay as long as you meet the terms. At the graduate level, Pell Grants and FSEOG do not apply. The non-loan funding described on this page comes from sponsor scholarships and from HRSA service-commitment scholarships, which must be repaid if you do not complete the school or service they require. See the federal grants section above for the details.

Do schools offering MSN programs give their own scholarships?

Some programs fund their own awards, and their terms vary by school. Ask the financial aid office of each program you are considering what it offers and how to be considered.

Are there scholarships for DNP and PhD nursing students?

Yes. Several awards on this page accept doctoral students as well as master's students, including the March of Dimes, NLN, NEF, Trautman and NAHN Abbott awards. The NAPNAP Foundation and AACN Professional Nursing awards in the nurse practitioner section are for doctoral students only.

Is an MSN worth the cost?

That depends on your specialty, what your program costs and how much you borrow. Our guide to whether nursing school is worth it weighs cost against value.