Nurse Educator Scholarship Program (NESP)

For details regarding program funding levels for the 2009-10 academic year, see the Processing Updates section of this page.

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Program Description
Eligibility
How to Apply (and Obtaining the Application)
     Application Priority Consideration Date: March 1
Details
How Funds are Disbursed
Processing Updates
Eligible Illinois Colleges

If you are a nurse or an academically talented student pursuing a career in professional or practical nursing education in Illinois, you may be eligible for the Nurse Educator Scholarship Program.

As part of the application process, you must agree to the terms and conditions that are outlined in the application's Teaching Agreement/Promissory Note. By receiving the award, you must teach in Illinois in the field of nursing education. (Due to the many different opportunities to teach, ISAC does not set a minimum number of hours that a nurse educator must work to fulfill this commitment. The approved Illinois institution makes the determination of what their institution considers as one year of teaching.) If this teaching commitment is not fulfilled (as certified by an authorized individual at the approved Illinois institution), the amount of proceeds received (including scholarship and stipend dollars) converts to a loan, and you must repay the entire amount plus interest and reasonable collection costs.

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen
• Be an Illinois resident
• Be a recipient of at least a bachelor's degree
• Be enrolled, or accepted for enrollment, on at least a half-time basis in an approved program of professional nursing education or an approved program of practical nursing education at the graduate level at an eligible Illinois college
• Apply for federal student financial aid to determine your expected family contribution (EFC)
• Maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined by your college
• Not be in default on any student loan, nor owe a refund any state or federal grant
• Comply with federal Selective Service registration requirements  

How to Apply

To apply, work with your college to complete and submit an application for the Nurse Educator Scholarship Program. The application may be accessed online at College Zone, or by requesting it from ISAC, eligible colleges in Illinois, or state legislative and federal congressional offices. Complete applications must be submitted to ISAC's Deerfield office. Included on the application is a section for the college to provide ISAC with verification of the student's enrollment and program eligibility. In order to be considered complete, an application submitted to ISAC must have both the student's and college's information.

Applications must be postmarked on or before March 1 immediately preceding the academic year for which you are requesting the scholarship, in order to receive priority consideration. Applications postmarked after that date will be given consideration for the award if, after the initial round of awarding, funding remains available.

Details

• ISAC selects recipients from among timely, qualified applicants based on a combination of the following criteria:
  
  • Cumulative grade point averages (converted to a 4.0 scale) are prioritized from highest to lowest
  • EFCs are prioritized from lowest to highest
  • Renewal applicants receive priority consideration provided that they:
    • maintain their qualified applicant status by continuing to meet all criteria listed under the Eligibility section that appears earlier on this page; and
    • submit the renewal application on a timely basis.
• If all other criteria are equal, priority consideration is given to the qualified applicant who submits a complete application on the earliest date.

How Funds Are Disbursed

ISAC works with the college to disburse funds for this program. The college certifies student eligibility and then submits a payment request on behalf of the student. It may take up to eight weeks after the date that ISAC processes the payment request before funds are received at the college. The college may credit the scholarship funds to the student's account for tuition and fees that are due and payable, and disburse any remaining stipend funds to the student.

Depending on the college, students may be responsible for payment until program funds are received. Qualified applicants who are awaiting receipt of funds from this program should contact the Financial Aid Office or Business Office to determine the college's policy.

Processing Updates

Note that ISAC routinely updates this section as new information becomes available. Be sure to check back periodically for the current processing status.

For the 2009-10 Academic Year (last updated on
August 20, 2009):

Program Funding: On July 15, 2009, the Governor and state legislators reached an agreement regarding the fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) state budget, which determines funding levels for 2009-10 programs that are administered by ISAC. Based on that budget, ISAC has awarded timely renewal NESP applicants (i.e., applicants who submitted their applications on or before March 1st, and who have previously received an award) for the full year.

Operational Updates: Notifications regarding NESP eligibility and funding status were mailed on August 20, 2009, to applicants for whom ISAC had on file a complete NESP Application/Teaching Agreement/Promissory Note.

Qualified timely renewal applicants have been sent a Notice of Eligibility letter from ISAC. Award determinations were based on the applicant's renewal status and the dates on which the completed applications were received. Award amounts may be prorated. Qualified applicants are notified by their college of the award amount.

Individuals who do not meet the criteria to be a qualified applicant receive a Notice of Ineligibility.

The priority application consideration date for the 2009-10 academic year was March 1, 2009. Applications are no longer being accepted for this program.

For the 2010-11 Academic Year (last updated on
August 13, 2009):

Per current state legislation, 2009-10 is the last academic year in which funding for this program is to be appropriated. Absent new legislation, ISAC will not provide a 2010-11 NESP application.

Eligible Illinois Colleges

Only Illinois colleges offering a graduate-level professional or practical nursing education program may participate in the Nurse Educator Scholarship Program. The following is the current list of participating colleges.  This list will be updated as new colleges are approved to participate in the program. If your college is not listed, check with your financial aid administrator to determine if they plan to participate.

001767 001676 009145 001692 001707 001710 001722 001724 001735 001737 001741 009800 009987 006240 001768 001759 001776 001664 022141

Benedictine University Elmhurst College Governors State University Illinois State University Lewis University Loyola University McKendree University Millikin University North Park University Northern Illinois University Olivet Nazarene University Rush University Medical Center Saint Anthony College of Nursing Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing Saint Xavier University Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville University of Illinois at Chicago University of St. Francis West Suburban College of Nursing

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