The progressive aging of the population across the country has created a large demand for nurses. In fact, government statistics suggest that during the next eight years, the employment of nurses will grow by 22 percent.
In an effort to close the gap for this need, the UH Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene (SONDH) has launched a new scholarship program that will provide a total of five students with $10,000 each in financial assistance. The funding for the scholarship has been donated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
The Hawaii-based school is one of the 63 academic institutions nationwide that will be given funding by the two organizations. A total 114 masters degree students and 397 individuals who are enrolled in baccalaureate programs will benefit from these new financial aid opportunities.
Mary Boland, dean of the school, stated that "thanks to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support, we are increasing the number of highly qualified students from underrepresented backgrounds that enroll and graduate from UH Manoa." He added that "the UH Manoa masters entry into nursing program is highly competitive with the number of applicants much greater than the spaces available in each class."
