Nurse Educator Scholarship Program (NESP)

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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. If this teaching commitment is not fulfilled, 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 which enables you to skillfully prepare students for a career in professional or practical nursing
  
• 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 2008-09 Academic Year (last updated on
March 3, 2008):

The application for the 2008-09 Nurse Educator Scholarship Program is available to download and print from College Zone, however, the priority application consideration date for the 2008-09 academic year was March 1, 2008. Complete applications received after this date will be considered only if funding remains after all timely complete applicants have been awarded. Be sure to review the How to Apply section of this page for details regarding the application process.

Correspondence regarding the status of your application is mailed to you within three weeks after the date your application is received at ISAC. Awarding will take place in the late summer of 2008.

Qualified applicants are sent a Notice of Eligibility letter from ISAC. In the event funds are insufficient to make awards to all timely qualified applicants, ISAC makes award determinations on the basis of the dates that the completed applications are received, and award amounts may be prorated. Qualified applicants are notified by their college of any changes to the award amount listed on the Notice of Eligibility.

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

If an application is incomplete, a Notice of Incomplete Application is sent to the applicant to request the missing information. Processing cannot take place prior to the date a complete application is received in ISAC's Deerfield office.

For the 2007-08 Academic Year (last updated on
May 12, 2008):

The application for the 2007-08 Nurse Educator Scholarship Program will remain available to download and print through May 21, 2008. The priority application consideration date for the 2007-08 academic year was March 1, 2007, however, complete applications received at ISAC on or before May 23, 2008 will be considered as long as funding remains. Be sure to review the How to Apply section of this page for details regarding the application process. 

Correspondence regarding the status of your application is mailed to you within three weeks after the date your application is received at ISAC.

Qualified applicants are sent a Notice of Eligibility letter from ISAC. In the event funds are insufficient to make awards to all timely and untimely qualified applicants, ISAC makes award determinations on the basis of the dates that the completed applications are received, and 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.

If an application is incomplete, a Notice of Incomplete Application is sent to the applicant to request the missing information. Processing cannot take place prior to the date a complete application is received in ISAC's Deerfield office.

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.

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

Elmhurst College 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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