Tuition and Financial Aid

Steps for Applying for Financial Aid (for undergraduate and graduate students)

There are three steps to apply for financial aid at the University and School of Nursing.  These steps must be completed each year that you want to receive aid, and are the same for new and returning students.

Step 1:  All undergraduate and graduate students who are US citizens or permanent residents are expected to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid  (FAFSA) every year to the College Scholarship Service.  This form must be submitted after January 1 each year.  You will likely need to compute your federal and state taxes first.  Have your FAFSA report sent to UVa (Federal Code 003745, CSS/Profile Code 5820).

Step 2:  After the University receives your FAFSA report, you will need to complete the electronic University Financial Aid Application.  This will appear in your ‘To Do’ list in the Student Information System (SIS).  You will need to log into SIS to complete the University form.

Step 3:  New students will be emailed information about the School of Nursing financial aid application after admission to the program.    Returning students will be emailed information about the School's application on March 1 of each year.

All School of Nursing students requesting scholarship support must complete all three steps each year.

Undergraduate Students

Financial Aid for undergraduate students is determined by financial need.  Most financial aid for undergraduate students is administered through the Office of Student Financial Services, located at 918 Emmet Street.  This includes grants, scholarships, loans, work-study employment, and other special programs.

Information about all these sources of financial aid is available on the UVa Financial Aid website. Please pay particular attention to published deadlines.

In addition, the School’s Office of Admissions and Student Services awards more than 50 undergraduate need-based nursing scholarships each year.  The School of Nursing emails the School’s scholarship application to new students only after admissions offers are made.  Returning students are emailed information about the School’s scholarships each March.

Some merit awards (not based on financial need) are available, funded by the Nursing Alumni Association for returning students; new First-Year and Transfer students are not eligible for these merit awards.

Graduate Students

Financial Aid at the graduate level comes from several sources. Please contact the appropriate office for the following items:

• Scholarship and Fellowship Support (administered by the School)
• Graduate Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant positions (administered by the School)
• Nurse Faculty Loans (administered by the School)
• Subsidized and unsubsidized student loans (administered by the Office of Student Financial Services)

 
Graduate Scholarship and Fellowship Support:
The School of Nursing Office of Admissions and Student Services offers need-based and merit-based aid to many graduate nursing students. This can come in the form of full or partial support for your tuition and required fees, or in some cases an additional monthly stipend. The School uses awards from the federal government, the Commonwealth of Virginia and private foundations, as well as endowment and alumni gifts to award these full and partial tuition awards. To be eligible for any support, a graduate student must be enrolled in at least 6 credits per semester in a graduate degree program (MSN, DNP or PhD).  Students enrolled in post-Master’s certificate programs are not eligible for federal, Commonwealth or institutional monies; they may be eligible to receive support from private scholarships. No aid is available to those enrolled in less than half time (less than 6 credits).

Graduate Teaching Assistant or Research Assistant Positions:
The School hires approximately 30 Graduate Teaching Assistants each year to assist with instruction primarily of the pre-licensure nursing students.  Graduate Teaching Assistants need to have completed at least 24 credits of graduate level coursework in the subject that they are teaching; DNP and PhD students received priority in selection and assignments.   A GTA receives a full academic scholarship, health insurance, and a stipend in exchange for an assignment of 10-15 hours/week of work.   GTAs must be enrolled for 12 credits per semester.  GTA assignments are made in May of each year for the following academic year.   Post-Master’s Certificate students are ineligible to be Graduate Teaching or Research Assistants.

There are a limited number of Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) positions.  Priority for these go to enrolled PhD students whose research interests overlap with the focus of the Assistantship.   GRA positions usually provide a half-scholarship.

Nurse Faculty Loans:
Graduate students who are considering nursing faculty positions should apply for the Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP). The University administers this federal loan program to develop future nursing faculty in the US.  Recipients who become full-time faculty after graduation will have up to 85% of the loan principal cancelled. There is also a special interest rate of 3% for NFLP recipients. Full-time MSN, DNP or PhD students can borrow up to the cost of tuition & books each year. Information on the federal NFLP program can be found here.

Students applying for or enrolled in the PhD in Nursing or the Doctor in Nursing Practice (DNP) programs can apply for the Future Virginia Nurse Faculty Loan Assistance Repayment Program administered through the University of Virginia.  Full-time doctoral students are eligible to borrow up to $25,000 per year for their coursework phase of their programs. These loans are cancelled for those who work as a full-time faculty member at any nursing program in Virginia (public or private). The application deadline is May 15.  New students offered admission to the DNP or PhD programs will be sent the FNVF loan application in late-April.

Non-University  Scholarship Support

There are several sources of outside scholarship support for undergraduate and graduate nursing students.  Applications and information for these three scholarships can be found at the following links:

Virginia Department of Health Nursing Scholarships (for Virginia residents):

• Mary Marshall Nursing Scholarship Program for RN students (due June 30)
• Virginia's Nurse Practitioner or Midwife Scholarship Program (due June 30)
• Commonwealth of Virginia Nursing Scholarship Program: Supporting Our Nurse Educators (due July 30)

• The Discover Nursing website offers a directory of more than 200 scholarships available for individuals studying nursing. All students are encouraged to apply for these nursing scholarships.