Top 221 Nursing Scholarships in February 2025

These scholarships are aimed at financially supporting nursing students’ academic and career goals. 

To get a scholarship that’s specifically intended for nursing students, you might have to provide some proof of enrollment in a nursing program, although plenty of programs will also award prospective students who intend to pursue nursing or a related medical field. 

There are also a lot of less-specialized scholarships that are open to all grade levels, including nursing students and prospective nursing students. 

No matter who you are, there are scholarship opportunities for nursing students out there that fit you perfectly. You can improve your chances of winning scholarships by finding the opportunities that best match your qualifications and creating a strong and unique application that highlights what makes you special.

To refine your search and find nursing scholarships that also match profile criteria like your home state and more, get personalized scholarship recommendations on the Mos app. 

For an overview of just a few great scholarships open to nursing students, plus some helpful tips for how to find and win scholarship opportunities for nursing students, keep reading! 

Ten Nursing Scholarships Mos Loves

1. Nathan L. Anderson Memorial Scholarship

   • The Nathan L. Anderson Memorial Scholarship provides up to $4,000 to support Minority students (African-American, Latino, and Native-American individuals). To be eligible, you must pursue undergraduate studies in computer science, aviation, nursing, or music training. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required for those interested in nursing, while a GPA of 2.75 is necessary for the other three areas of study.

2. Future Nurse Scholarship Program

   • The Future Nurse Scholarship Program offers $1,500 to students pursuing a degree in nursing or a nursing specialty full-time. To qualify, you must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 or higher

   •  and a minimum of 30 completed credit hours. To apply, you must write an essay. 

3. American Muslim Women Physicians Association's scholarships

   • The American Muslim Women Physicians Association offers scholarships to female Muslims enrolled in a pre-medical, medical, dental, nursing/pharmacy/chiropractic/optometric school. To qualify, your parents mustn't be physicians (exceptions will be made if parents never practiced as physicians). 

4. Medical Research Scholarships

   • This scholarship offers 3 awards of $2,500 each. To apply, you must have completed the appropriate undergraduate education and be currently pursuing an advanced degree in a medical-related field, such as a physician, physician assistant, dentist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, APRN, etc. OR you must be an undergraduate nursing student enrolled in nursing studies. Undergraduate nursing students doing pre-nursing studies are not eligible to apply. Visit the website to start your application! 

5. Higher Education Scholarship

   • The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses provides Up to six $3,000 scholarships to its members in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. An essay and recommendations are required. Good luck!

6. Healthcare Leaders Scholarship

   • Healthcare Leaders Scholarship offers $1,500 to students entering or currently pursuing an educational program related to nursing or medicine. Applicants must be US citizens, at least 17 years of age, and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. If you qualify, make sure to apply! 

7. Sheila A Burke Memorial Scholarship

   • The Sheila A Burke Memorial Scholarship offers $1,000 to an underprivileged or underrepresented high school or undergraduate student who is pursuing nursing. To apply, you must write about your vision for yourself as a future nurse.

8. Expression in Medicine Scholarship

   • The Expression in Medicine Scholarship offers $500 to undergraduate student pursuing the healthcare field and are committed to defending free expression. To apply, write an essay about why is free expression an important ideal in medicine? 

9. Diversity in Health Care Scholarship

   • The Diversity in Health Care Scholarship offers $3,200 to current or former health professionals interested in advancing clinical credentials. To qualify, you must identify as part of a historically underrepresented community, including those who identify as Black or African American, Middle Eastern/North African, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. To apply, you must submit a copy of your certification or License and an essay. 

10. The Brown Medical and Educational (MAE) Foundation Healthcare Scholarship

    • The Brown Medical and Educational (MAE) Foundation Healthcare Scholarship is open to undergraduate and graduate minority students pursuing a degree in healthcare, including medicine, dentistry, nursing, and allied health (PT, OT). To qualify, your family's income must be at or below the national poverty level based on family size for the current year. To apply, you must write an essay and submit 3 letters of recommendation. 

Tips and Strategies for Applying for Nursing Scholarships

Here’s a guide of what to consider when you’re applying for scholarships, how to apply, and a few practical tips on how to set yourself apart as a strong applicant.  

• When to Start Applying for Scholarships? Right Now!

If you want to win as much money for nursing school as possible, you should start your scholarship search as early as possible. That way, you can avoid missing out on deadlines and give yourself plenty of time to get your application materials together. 

Basically, the best time to start applying to scholarships for nursing students is right now! 

• Research Your Scholarships

The fact that you’re reading this guide means that you’re already doing your research. Great work! 

Plenty of organizations and foundations offer scholarships to nursing students that belong to specific demographics or who live in specific areas. 

Use this page to search for scholarships for nursing students that fit your profile, your financial goals, and your academic interests. 

It pays to be strategic about the scholarships you apply for instead of just applying for every single listing without checking the requirements first. For example, if you live in California it would be a waste of your time to apply for a scholarship that’s only for students in Minnesota. 

• It’s a Numbers Game 

Ultimately, the best way to boost your odds of winning scholarship money is to apply for as many opportunities as you can. 

This might seem to contradict the previous point, but it’s all about hitting the right balance between narrowing down your search and maximizing the amount of applications you actually send. 

Think about it this way: 

• Applying for one scholarship you qualify for is better than applying for ten scholarships you don’t qualify for. 

• Applying for ten scholarships you do qualify for is way better than applying for just the one.

• Make a Game Plan   

Being a nursing student can be overwhelming. 

You’re busy all the time with commitments that include—but aren’t even limited to—class, studying, homework, social events, and jobs. It can be difficult to set aside time to apply for scholarships, which is why lots of students end up missing deadlines for scholarships they'd have a great chance of winning. 

To avoid falling behind on your academic and financial goals, be intentional about how often you apply for scholarships, what time you work on your applications, and much time you spend on them. Think of it as starting a new, healthy habit—like flossing your teeth or meditating. 

Set a personal goal for how many scholarships you want to apply for a week. 

Then, find a time in your schedule where it would be easy to integrate your new scholarship habit. For example, if you study every Tuesday night from 7-8, spend 15 minutes of that study time for scholarships. If you use Mos, that’s enough time to apply for 5 or more scholarships! 

• Track Your Scholarship Applications   

Once you identify all the opportunities you qualify for and make an application plan, keep track of your scholarship journey. The Mos app makes this easy by letting you save scholarships and track your application status, but you can also do this on your own with a physical list or a spreadsheet online. 

However you want to keep tabs on your scholarship applications, make sure to track their deadlines and application requirements. 

• Tailor Your Application 

Every scholarship will ask for its own set of application materials. For example, a scholarship for nursing students who intend to enter the mental healthcare field might ask you to write an essay about why mental healthcare is important to you. 

Because of this, you shouldn’t just reuse the exact same essay or personal statement for every scholarship you apply for. 

Your application should highlight why you’re applying for the specific scholarship you’re applying for, not just why you’re applying for a scholarship in general. Explain how, if you receive the award, it will help you achieve a career or educational goal that aligns with the mission of the organization that’s offering the scholarship. 

For example, if you’re applying to a scholarship that was founded by or dedicated to a particular person, you should demonstrate that you’ve done research on who that person is, explain how their legacy inspires you, and outline the ways the scholarship would help you continue that legacy. 

That doesn’t mean that you have to start from scratch with every single application. You can use a previous essay or personal statement you’re proud of as a template for your future applications as long as you make meaningful changes to it that tailor it to a specific opportunity.  

For more on how to write a good personal statement, check out these resources: 

• Purdue Owl: Writing the Personal Statement

• College Essay Guy: How to Write a Personal Statement (Tips + Essay Examples)

• Highlight Your Achievements and Leadership Skills 

A scholarship application isn’t the place to be humble. 

Some scholarships for nursing students ask for examples of your leadership skills, community involvement, or other achievements. Scholarship committees don’t know anything about you outside of the contents of your application. If there’s a certain accomplishment or quality you’re proud of, the only way to make sure they know about it is to tell them. 

That might seem obvious, but some students default to downplaying their own accomplishments. When you’re reading over your application form or your essay, make sure you include all of the (relevant) stuff you’d want the scholarship committee to take into consideration. 

If you’re having trouble with this, try doing a brain dump on a sheet of paper. Write down every single extracurricular activity, school event, hobby, volunteer position, and leadership role you can remember having. Then, circle the ones you’re the most proud of in red and circle the ones that are relevant to the scholarship you’re applying for in blue. Anything you circled twice should definitely make its way into your application. 

If that’s too hard, ask a friend, professor, or mentor to help you brainstorm a list of your accomplishments. The people who care about you will often be able to list a ton of amazing things about you that you might write off as “not that impressive.”  

• Prepare Your Documents and Transcripts 

A lot of scholarships require you to submit financial documentation, academic transcripts, or both.

Need-based scholarships are aimed at students who don’t have the financial means to pay for college. The federal and state governments are two major sources of need-based aid, which they offer through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). 

The FAFSA is a form that asks for a fair amount of personal information and financial info. Learn what documents you need for FAFSA on the Mos blog.  

Merit-based scholarships are meant to reward a student’s accomplishments—usually academic accomplishments, but there are plenty of merit-based scholarships that reward things like artistic talent or sports prowess too! A merit-based scholarship might ask for a transcript of your grades. 

If you’re currently enrolled in college or a nursing program, your transcript will probably be on your student portal.

If you’re not currently enrolled, email your former academic advisor or registrar’s office to ask for a copy of your transcript.

Make sure you have all necessary documents ready before a scholarship’s deadline. Ask for your transcript a few weeks in advance to avoid missing out on money you qualify for.

• Follow Directions Carefully 

Scholarship applications often have specific formatting requirements. 

A few examples of requirements you might run into: 

• Essay word count. Example: A scholarship that specifies that your essay can’t be over 500 words. 

• File format. Example: A scholarship that only accepts application forms that are uploaded as PDFs. 

If you don’t submit an application that matches all of the submission requirements, you run the risk of being disqualified, no matter how strong of an applicant you are. 

Think about it from the scholarship committee’s perspective: if they get a lot of strong applications from students who are all equally deserving of the award, they might end up falling back on technicalities like word count to decide who to eliminate from the candidate pool. Don’t give them any reason to throw out your application. 

Carefully read over all of the submission instructions when you’re putting together your application. If it helps, make a list of every separate requirement and check them off as you apply. Before you hit submit, check your application over one last time just to be safe. 

• Ask for Strong References 

Some scholarships for nursing students will ask you for letters of recommendation from professors, mentors, or other figures in your life. 

When you’re deciding who to ask for a letter of recommendation, think about the people who you’ve known for a longer time and who have witnessed your accomplishments firsthand. A professor who’s seen you work hard and improve over the course of two years is probably a better option than a professor who only had you for one class last year. 

You can set up your recommenders to write you the best letter possible by telling them what kind of qualities or achievements the scholarship provider is looking for, and by sending them a polite email reminder about your recommendation a couple weeks before the scholarship’s deadline.

You can also set yourself up to get a stronger recommendation by building your relationships with your potential references. Regularly going to a professor’s office hours is a great way to distinguish yourself as a diligent student to them.

• Pay Attention to Deadlines 

Scholarships usually have firm deadlines, and it’s pretty rare for them to accept late submissions. 

We already mentioned the importance of tracking deadlines earlier, but one more tip to avoid missing deadlines is to set yourself a personal deadline that’s a day or two before the official deadline. That way, you can avoid the frantic race to finish your application before midnight on the due date, and you have a grace period of a few days to work on your application if life gets busy. 

Other Sources of Financial Aid for Nursing Students 

Scholarships aren’t the only way to fund your nursing school education. 

For information on other financial aid resources, check out The Mos Financial Aid Roadmap: 8 Ways to Get Money for College. 

Apply Faster on the Mos app 

When you apply for more than one scholarship, you have to fill out the same information over and over again. Even if it only takes a few minutes every time, those minutes add up. Plus, it can make the whole process feel like a mind-numbing slog instead of an exciting chance to spotlight the achievements and qualities that make you special as an applicant. 

When you sign up for Mos, you only have to fill out your information once. Then, every time you apply for a scholarship, the app auto-fills your information into the application. This means that applications can take as little as a few seconds! With every scholarship you apply to, your odds of winning money for college from one of them go up (remember, it’s partially a numbers game). And with every scholarship you apply to on Mos, the amount of time you save goes up right alongside those odds. 

Related Scholarship Categories

• Graduate scholarships

• Scholarships for women

• Easy scholarships

• Merit scholarships

• Scholarships for Black and/or African American students

• California scholarships