The College of Nursing and Health received over $100,000 for their Nurse Capitation Grant, which the college plans to split into $56,000 per semester for newly enrolled Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program students.
The Nurse Capitation Grant will serve undergraduate nursing students similar to scholarships, according to Anne Weaver, director of sponsored grants and projects. The grant aims to reduce students’ financial burden and increase completion rates in nursing programs.
Weaver explains that the Louisiana legislature provided this grant in hopes to address the critical nursing shortage in the state.
“The school of nursing recognizes their role in educating this next pipeline of the workforce that will hopefully be available to work with patients throughout Louisiana, particularly in New Orleans,” she said.
Although the newsletter announcing the grant was released Aug. 29, the contract was only received on Sept. 17, according to Weaver.
“The state moved slowly. We got the award letter a while back, and they got the contract back over to us just recently,” Weaver said.
Now that the school received the contract, it needs to be signed before being passed to the College of Nursing and Health, who will work with the financial aid office to ensure it is applied to nursing students like other grants, according to Weaver.
“Once everything gets signed, then we’ll make sure it’s allocated correctly,” she said.
Many nursing students like Angelina Nguyen, sophomore nursing major, have not received any news about the Nurse Capitation Grant. However, when the grant was explained to her, Nguyen ultimately agreed that the grant was important to Loyola’s nursing program.
“I know so many people want to do nursing at Loyola and study here, but the price may not be as accommodating for them,” Nguyen said.
Additionally, Nguyen believes that the nursing undergraduate students should hear more about the program.
“I do hope they tell the students more about this,” she said.
In response to questions on why nursing students have not been notified of the new grant that will ultimately help with financial struggle, Weaver explained that the university wanted to wait until the right time.
“We wanted to get it officially in hand for putting it out there as available,” Weaver said. “It would have been nicer closer to the start of school.”
Additionally, Weaver added her view on the importance of this grant not only to Loyola but also to the state, believing that it would make a positive impact.
“I’m glad the state is investing in health in this way. I think it’s good and I think you’ll benefit. People from this area can get some other access point to get that degree, and then they’ll have a lot of options work wise,” she said.
According to Weaver, the grant should be “up and running” very soon since the university has obtained the contract.
