Research · Scholarships · October 2026
Zero of 19 Nursing Scholarships Are Open to a Student Not Yet in Nursing School
As of October 2026: Zero of the 19 nursing scholarships in this table are open to a student who has not started a nursing program. Every one asks for current enrollment in a nursing program, an acceptance letter from one, a nursing license, or graduate standing.
The table gives each award, the stage of training it asks for, any grade minimum, and the dates. It does not hold an award a high school senior can apply to, because none of these sponsors offers one.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
The findings, in plain English
Nursing scholarship money starts after the nursing program does. The 19 awards split four ways. Eight ask the student to be enrolled in, or accepted into, a nursing program already. Seven ask for a nursing license the student does not have yet. Two ask for graduate standing. The last two name no stage, because the sponsor documents behind them are not reachable.
The money is real, just later. Four awards pay $10,000 to a single recipient. March of Dimes pays $10,000 per recipient in both its undergraduate and its graduate category. The Hispanic nurses' association paid $10,000 each to 8 applicants in 2026. California's state award pays up to $8,000 and asks for a year of work in an underserved area after graduation.
Grade minimums are modest, and no page names a test score. California's associate-degree award asks for a 2.0 grade point average, the lowest minimum here. The four emergency nurses' awards ask for 3.0. Certiphi-AACN asks for 3.2 and the Nurses Educational Funds award asks for 3.6. Most rows name no minimum at all. None of these pages names an SAT or ACT score.
19 nursing scholarships and the stage each one asks for
Grouped by the stage of training the sponsor requires, earliest first, then by the largest stated award.
| Scholarship | Sponsor | Stage required | Award | Who is eligible | Grade minimum | Dates, as posted | The sponsor's page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbott Scholarship Fund | National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) | Enrolled or accepted, pre-licensure | $10,000 each to 8 qualified applicants in 2026 | NAHN student member in good standing, enrolled in a BSN, DNP/MSN (nurse practitioner), or PhD nursing program | — | Closed for 2026; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| March of Dimes Nursing Scholarships -- Undergraduate | March of Dimes, supported by Pampers | Enrolled or accepted, pre-licensure | $10,000 per recipient | enrolled in an accredited undergraduate nursing program, with a commitment to maternal or infant health | — | Closed for 2026; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| Arizona College of Nursing (AZCN)-NAHN Scholarship | National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN), with Arizona College of Nursing | Enrolled or accepted, pre-licensure | $10,000 tuition scholarship per eligible campus location, up to $200,000 total | NAHN student member in good standing, attending and currently enrolled at an eligible AZCN campus | — | Closed for 2026; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| Associate Degree Nursing Scholarship Program (ADNSP) | California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) | Enrolled or accepted, pre-licensure | up to $8,000 per award, about $50,000 available statewide for the cycle | accepted or enrolled in an eligible California associate-degree nursing program leading to RN licensure; California resident; one-year service obligation of at least 32 hours a week of direct patient care in an underserved area or qualifying facility, starting within six months of graduation | 2.0 | September 1, 2026 to October 2, 2026 | Source |
| Certiphi-AACN Scholarship | Certiphi Screening, Inc. and AACN's Foundation for Academic Nursing | Enrolled or accepted, pre-licensure | $5,000 each, two awards ($10,000 total) | currently enrolled and actively taking classes as a pre-licensure nursing student at an AACN member school; U.S. citizen or permanent resident | 3.2 | — | Source |
| Pathway to Critical Care Nursing Scholarship | American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) | Enrolled or accepted, pre-licensure | $2,500 each, up to 8 pre-licensure scholarships (up to $20,000 total) | student enrolled in an entry-level baccalaureate nursing program who is committed to critical care practice | — | Closed September 1, 2026; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| NBNA Scholarships (multiple named awards) | National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) | Enrolled or accepted, pre-licensure | scholarships start at $1,000; 57 scholarships and over $257,000 in scholarships awarded in 2023 | active NBNA member currently enrolled in a nursing program (LPN/LVN, ADN, RN-BSN, generic BSN, master's or doctorate), in good standing, with at least one full year of school remaining | — | Deadline March 15, 2026, 5 PM EST | Source |
| ENA Foundation Non-RN Scholarship | Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Foundation | Enrolled or accepted, pre-licensure | — | rescue worker (pre-hospital care provider, firefighter, police officer) or emergency department employee pursuing an associate's or baccalaureate nursing degree; ENA membership not required | 3.0 | Fall and spring cycles both shown closed; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| March of Dimes Nursing Scholarships -- Graduate | March of Dimes, supported by Pampers | Licensed nurse | $10,000 per recipient, plus the Dr. Margaret Comerford Freda Award for the top-scoring recipient | registered nurse enrolled in an accredited master's or doctoral nursing program, committed to maternal or infant health | — | Closed for 2026; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| ONF Bachelor's Scholarships | Oncology Nursing Foundation (ONF) | Licensed nurse | $3,000 each | registered nurse currently enrolled in, accepted to, or applied to a bachelor of nursing degree program for the 2027-2028 academic year | — | Opened September 15, 2026; closes February 1, 2027 | Source |
| Charlotte McGuire Scholarship Program | American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) | Licensed nurse | $1,000 each, undergraduate and graduate tiers | current RN license; active AHNA member for at least six months (undergraduate) or one year (graduate); enrolled in a program dedicated to holistic nursing practice | — | Deadline April 15 | Source |
| NEF Scholarship | Nurses Educational Funds, Inc. | Licensed nurse | — | RN-licensed nurse enrolled in a master's, PhD, DNP, DNAP, EdD or accelerated BSN-to-doctoral program, with at least two semesters of study remaining; must belong to a national nursing professional association | 3.6 | October 1, 2026 to February 1, 2027 | Source |
| ENA Foundation Undergraduate (RN-to-BSN) Scholarship | Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Foundation | Licensed nurse | — | registered nurse pursuing a baccalaureate degree in nursing (RN to BSN); ENA member in good standing | 3.0 | Fall and spring cycles both shown closed; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| ENA Foundation Graduate/Master's Scholarship | Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Foundation | Licensed nurse | — | registered emergency nurse pursuing a master's degree in nursing administration, nurse practitioner studies, nursing education or public health; ENA member in good standing | 3.0 | Fall and spring cycles both shown closed; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| ENA Foundation Doctoral Scholarship | Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Foundation | Licensed nurse | — | registered emergency nurse pursuing a doctoral degree (PhD or DNP); ENA member in good standing | 3.0 | Fall and spring cycles both shown closed; 2027 dates not posted | Source |
| AACN Professional Nursing Scholarship | AACN's Foundation for Academic Nursing | Graduate student | $7,500 in scholarships across three awards | graduate student currently pursuing an advanced nursing degree | — | Deadline December 15 | Source |
| Certiphi-GNSA Scholarship | AACN's Graduate Nursing Student Academy (GNSA) | Graduate student | $10,000 total, split between two recipients | master's or doctoral nursing student who is a member of AACN's Graduate Nursing Student Academy | — | Next cycle opens February 1 | Source |
| Nurse Corps Scholarship Program | Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Workforce | Not stated on a readable page | — | — | — | — | Source |
| TYLENOL Future Care Scholarship Program | Kenvue Brands LLC (TYLENOL), administered by ISTS | Not stated on a readable page | — | — | — | — | Source |
19 nursing scholarships in the United States, as their sponsors state them in October 2026. This is a list of scholarships for nursing students, not a list of all nursing aid: loan repayment programs are not scholarships and are not here, and a college's own nursing aid is not here. A blank award means the sponsor's page states no dollar figure. The Nurse Corps and TYLENOL Future Care rows carry no award, no eligibility and no dates because the sponsor documents behind them are not reachable. The Certiphi-AACN page carries two figures for the same award: the row shows the $10,000 across two awards in its scholarship-details block, and an older line on the same page says $15,000 across three. That page states no dates, so its row is blank. The Pathway to Critical Care row names only what its page states, an entry-level baccalaureate nursing student, and its last posted deadline has already passed.
Who these awards are for
High school seniors in the 2026-27 school year start college in fall 2027. For them, nothing in this table is open. The first awards open once the student is enrolled in a nursing program and taking classes, which is why eight rows use the words enrolled or accepted.
California's associate-degree award is the nearest thing to an exception, and it still is not one. It takes a student who has already been accepted into an eligible California associate-degree nursing program, not a student who is still choosing. The acceptance letter has to come first there too.
What the dates say, and do not say
Nine rows show a closed cycle and no 2027 dates. Both March of Dimes awards, both Hispanic nurses' awards, the four emergency nurses' awards and the critical care award are all in that group. A closed cycle is not a cancelled award. It means the sponsor has posted nothing for the next round yet.
A few rows do carry a live window. Nurses Educational Funds takes applications from October 1, 2026 to February 1, 2027. The oncology nurses' award opened September 15, 2026 and closes February 1, 2027, for the 2027-2028 school year. The holistic nurses' award has a standing April 15 deadline, and the graduate award from AACN has a standing December 15 deadline.
What a family should do with this
Read the stage column first. If the student is not in a nursing program yet, nothing in this table is open to them, and an application sent now returns nothing.
Save the list and open it again in the student's first term of nursing school. Two things make that term easier. One is membership in the association that runs the award, because several of these awards require the student to be a member before the deadline. The other is a grade point average above the minimum in the table, which starts accruing in the first nursing course.
Money for fall 2027 itself comes from somewhere else: the college's own financial aid office, and merit scholarships a high school senior can apply to now. Those are a different search, and a shorter wait.
Questions parents ask
Can my high school senior apply for a nursing scholarship?
Zero of the 19 nursing scholarships in this table are open to a student who has not started a nursing program.
What do nursing scholarships require?
Every one asks for current enrollment in a nursing program, an acceptance letter from one, a nursing license, or graduate standing.
Do nursing scholarships need an SAT or ACT score?
None of these pages names an SAT or ACT score.
What is the largest nursing scholarship on this list?
Four awards pay $10,000 to a single recipient.
Method & sources: Each row is one scholarship as its sponsor states it: the award, the stage of training it requires, any grade minimum, the service it asks for in return, and the dates posted as of October 2026. The file holds 19 awards from nursing associations, specialty foundations, a federal agency and one state agency, and covers the United States. Rows are grouped by the stage the sponsor requires, earliest first, then by the largest stated award. Two rows are blank apart from their sponsor and link, because the documents behind them are not reachable, and a figure that a sponsor's page does not state is left blank rather than estimated. The list is not complete: a nursing scholarship with no published page is not in it, and loan repayment programs are excluded.
- AACN Foundation for Academic Nursing: Foundation Scholarships
- Certiphi-AACN Scholarship
- AACN newsroom: Applications Open for Critical Care Nursing Scholarships
- Nurses Educational Funds: apply
- Oncology Nursing Foundation: Bachelor's Scholarships
- American Holistic Nurses Association: Scholarships and Awards
- National Black Nurses Association: Scholarships
- National Association of Hispanic Nurses: Scholarships
- March of Dimes: Nursing Scholarships
- Emergency Nurses Association Foundation: Grants and Scholarships
- California HCAI: Associate Degree Nursing Scholarship Program grant guide, Cycle Year 2026
This brief as data: /research/nursing-scholarships-2027.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).
Related: Nursing in California: admit rates and pay · State merit scholarships, state by state · Merit scholarship score grids · Merit scholarships by score and GPA