Money for nursing education comes from four places: federal programmes that trade funding for service in short-staffed places, loan forgiveness tied to public employment, association and foundation scholarships, and the employer. This page describes each, with the programmes that matter most.
Amounts, deadlines and eligibility change every year. Everything here was checked on 9 September 2026 and should be confirmed against the programme itself before anyone relies on it.
Federal programmes that pay for service
These are the largest awards available to nurses, and all of them work the same way: money now in exchange for a commitment to work somewhere with a shortage.
Nurse Corps Scholarship, run by the federal health workforce agency, pays tuition, fees and a monthly living stipend for students in a nursing programme, in exchange for at least two years working full time at a designated critical shortage facility after graduation.
Nurse Corps Loan Repayment pays a large share of outstanding nursing education debt for registered nurses, advanced practice nurses and nurse faculty, again in exchange for a two-year service commitment.
Nurse Faculty Loan Program works through participating schools rather than directly, cancelling a portion of loans for nurses who complete a graduate degree and then teach. It is the one federal lever aimed squarely at the constraint described under the nurse faculty shortage.
National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment covers nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and psychiatric nurse specialists working at approved primary care, dental or behavioural health sites.
All four are administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration and are described at bhw.hrsa.gov. That site refuses automated requests, so the address here could not be machine-checked, but it is the canonical route to every programme above.
Indian Health Service Loan Repayment repays up to $50,000 of health profession education loans for an initial two-year commitment in facilities serving American Indian and Alaska Native communities, with applications accepted from October through August. See ihs.gov/loanrepayment.
Veterans Affairs Education Debt Reduction Program pays up to $40,000 a year, to a maximum of $200,000 over five years, for staff in eligible roles including registered and practical nurses. It is attached to specific vacancies rather than applied for separately, so the programme appears in the job posting. See VA Careers education support.
Forgiveness through public employment
Public Service Loan Forgiveness cancels the remaining balance on federal direct loans after 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full time for a government or non-profit employer. Most hospital nursing jobs in the United States are at non-profit or public employers, which makes this the single largest source of debt relief available to nurses, and the one most often missed because it requires certifying employment along the way rather than at the end.
Details and the employer certification form are at studentaid.gov.
Association and foundation scholarships
Smaller awards, less competition than the federal programmes, and usually tied to membership or to a specific population.
- NSNA Foundation, the student association's foundation, which awards more than $500,000 a year to undergraduate nursing students, with individual awards up to $10,000 and an application window that opens in the autumn.
- National Black Nurses Association scholarships, open to members enrolled in nursing programmes. See National Black Nurses Association.
- National Association of Hispanic Nurses scholarships.
- Sigma Foundation for Nursing scholarships, up to $5,000 for undergraduate and advanced degrees, alongside research grants for early-career nurse researchers. See Sigma.
- Oncology Nursing Foundation, scholarships and grants for oncology nursing.
- AACN financial aid resources, a directory maintained by the association of nursing schools.
Most specialty associations run something similar for their own field. The list under nursing organizations is the practical place to start.
State programmes
Many states operate their own loan repayment for nurses who work in rural or underserved areas, in state facilities, or in nursing education. These are administered variously by health departments, higher education agencies and workforce centres rather than by boards of nursing, so there is no single national list.
The state's board of nursing usually links to the current programme, which makes the state boards directory the fastest route to finding it.
The employer
Tuition assistance from an employer is the most under-used money in nursing. Large systems commonly pay several thousand dollars a year toward a degree, sometimes considerably more for nurses moving toward a bachelor's degree or an advanced practice role, and many now offer loan repayment as a recruitment or retention term.
Three things worth knowing before signing. Most carry a service commitment with repayment if the nurse leaves early. Some pay the school directly and some reimburse after a passing grade, which is a cash flow difference that matters. And tuition benefits are a negotiable term at hire, when leverage is highest, particularly for hard-to-fill posts. See nurse turnover and retention for why an employer will pay for this rather than replace someone.
Related
- The nurse faculty shortage
- The nursing shortage
- State boards of nursing
- Nursing organizations
- Registered nurse pay
Sources
- Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education. Accessed September 9, 2026.
- IHS Loan Repayment Program. Indian Health Service, for award amounts and service commitment. Accessed September 9, 2026.
- Education support. VA Careers, for the Education Debt Reduction Program. Accessed September 9, 2026.
- Health workforce funding. Health Resources and Services Administration, for the Nurse Corps and related programmes. Accessed September 9, 2026.
- Foundation of the National Student Nurses' Association. For award amounts and eligibility. Accessed September 9, 2026.
- Sigma Foundation for Nursing scholarships. Sigma. Accessed September 9, 2026.