Nursing Scholarships for Working- and Single Mothers

Going into nursing can be a wise career choice for single mothers for several reasons:

• the field almost always has jobs available
• single mothers often have strong care-giving instincts
• special scholarships to study nursing are available

As colleges and universities look to capture their fair share of the emerging single mother student market, they are offering numerous grants and scholarships to make single moms’ dreams a reality.

The primary sources of help for college are: federal and state governments, private civic organizations, corporations, non-profit organizations and the schools themselves.

5 Sources for Nursing Scholarships

Several grants are available for prospective nurses in exchange for an agreement to serve, after graduation, in a part of the country where there is a nursing shortage.

Here are some other examples of nursing scholarships for single mothers:

1. The Mary Blake Single Parent Nursing Scholarship
   This scholarship is named in honor of Mary Blake, a single mother and registered nurse. You simply write an essay of 500 words to vie for a scholarship. You must be a U.S. citizen and enrolled in an accredited nursing program to enter.
2. The Foundation for the National Student Nurses Association
   This group also offers scholarships to single mothers and has awarded more than $2 million in the 40 years since its founding.
3. The Emergency Nurses Association
   This organization “promotes the discipline of emergency nursing” through grants and college scholarships.
4. St. Luke’s College, Iowa
   Single mothers with a completed FAFSA that indicates a low Expected Family Contribution are most likely to win one of these scholarships; separate application must be made for it, in addition to the FAFSA.
5. Local hospitals
   Local hospitals often have scholarship programs for those who will work for them during their studies and upon graduation. Contact your nearby hospital(s), or hospitals in other parts of the country where you are willing to live. University and teaching hospitals are your best bets.

These are just examples of scholarships specifically targeting single mothers who are pursuing nursing as a career. Innumerable other sources of scholarships for single mothers exist, no matter what field the mother is studying in for a degree.

2 Additional Programs for Single Mothers

Here are two other assistance programs that often help single mothers:

1. Project Working Mom helps working mothers return to school with full scholarships by teaming up with several universities. This project has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships to moms who cannot go to school full time because of work commitments. This is a huge help, in that most programs do not allow part-time students to qualify for financial aid.
2. A recent stimulus program detailed at www.classesandcareers.com offers tax credits, education refunds and billions of dollar in aid to low- and middle-income students.

You can make your dream to be a nurse a reality by availing yourself of the many grants and scholarships that are offered to those studying this crucial field of medicine. It is a great time to become a nurse, and many single mothers thoroughly enjoy this rewarding career.