What resources exist to help pay for post-grad nursing education?

March 9, 2010 12:51 AM

What resources exist to help pay for post-grad nursing education?

The Indian Health Service, for example, will award up to 20k to help pay for health education if you agree to a two year obligation to work at an Indian health program site. Are there any other federal or state programs that offer similar incentives? I'm looking especially for opportunities that exist in and around Arizona. Thanks!

posted by supercrayon to Education (6 answers total)

Best answer: Check out the Arizona Health Education Center program (AHEC). My understanding is that there are AHECs in most states, and their job is to find ways to encourage talented people to go into healthcare, especially if they agree to work in underserved areas after graduation. Several years ago MeFite BrodieShadeTree worked for them (check out this thread) and was very helpful to me, you might want to try contacting him if he doesn't find this thread.
posted by vytae at 4:00 AM on March 9, 2010

A lot of hospitals have their own programs like this. You agree to work for them for a couple of years, they'll pay for your degree. You'll need to get in touch with them directly, and the programs tend not to be as well publicized as they might be, but they're out there.
posted by valkyryn at 5:41 AM on March 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The U.S. Public Health Service does this. My sister is getting her NP through this program, feel free to memail me for more details.
posted by unknowncommand at 6:35 AM on March 9, 2010

Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but the government will loan you the money via FAFSA. The only reason I mention it is that nurses are always in high demand and short supply, and they generally make a pretty decent income. Paying back those loans with interest may be well worth having the flexibility to work wherever you'd like without quite the sense of indentured servitude that comes with many of the loan repayment programs. I suspect that when all is said and done, just paying back your own loans is probably smarter financially for most folks.
posted by drpynchon at 7:03 AM on March 9, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Cheers for your answers guys. Drpynchon, while I'm interested in this topic for my own purposes - I'm training to be an RN and I'd like to become an FNP someday - at the moment I'm asking for a friend in a similar situation who wants to remain as debt-free as possible.
posted by supercrayon at 7:04 PM on March 10, 2010

AHEC's are in every state. While I don't work for the AHEC system directly anymore, I am still pretty closely affiliated. I'm always glad to help in this area!
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 8:50 AM on March 11, 2010