SXU receives $645,000 scholarship grant for disadvantaged students

Saint Xavier University's (SXU) School of Nursing recently received a $645,000 scholarship grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The HRSA Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) grant will provide 43 $15,000 scholarships for the 2013-14 academic year. SXU also has been recommended for funding at this level for an additional three years, subject to the availability of funds and progress of the project.

SXU's grant is one of 99 made nationally to support students in a range of accredited health professions programs, and one of four in Illinois. SXU is also the only private university in Illinois to receive funding through the program this year. A complete list of HRSA SDS grant recipients is available at HRSA's Data Warehouse.

"This grant will have an enormous impact on our students’ ability to complete an excellent nursing education program at SXU," said School of Nursing Dean Gloria Jacobson, R.N., Ph.D. "The ability to award 43 of these generous scholarships will mean that, for strong nursing students, family income is less of an obstacle to earning a degree."

The SDS grant will provide scholarships to full-time undergraduate SXU nursing students from disadvantaged backgrounds who demonstrate financial need. The initiative promotes diversity among nursing students and practicing nurses in the health care community; most SXU graduates remain in the Chicago area to contribute to the health care workforce. Recognizing that the strong academic preparation required for a rigorous nursing education may not be readily available in schools serving low- to moderate-income communities, SDS scholarship recipients at SXU also will benefit from intensive mentoring and academic counseling resources to promote their successful completion of the program. 

SXU has an ongoing and historic commitment to vulnerable and underserved populations that is supported by its core values of diversity, excellence, and respect for persons. Approximately one-third of SXU’s freshman class is racially diverse; more than half of our incoming freshman class is eligible for Pell grants, which are awarded to students who demonstrate a high degree of financial need. In its review of SXU’s program, HRSA noted the strength of SXU’s commitment to the education of disadvantaged students, and to increasing graduates working in medically underserved communities. HRSA also noted SXU's work to address the Special Health Needs identified nationally by the Department of Health and Human Services.

One-hundred percent of the program costs of $645,000 for this academic year are financed by a federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration; no non-governmental funds contribute to this program.

SXU’s School of Nursing is fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and is also one of only seventeen programs in the country designated as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education by the National League for Nursing. For more information, please contact SXU's School of Nursing at (773) 298-3701.