Financial Aid & Scholarships

Full-time MN students receive a $3,000 tuition scholarship each semester unless their tuition is paid in full by another scholarship source. To continue to receive internal scholarships, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.  

• Each full-time MSN student receives a partial scholarship unless their tuition is paid in full by another scholarship source. To continue to receive internal scholarships, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.
• The average partial scholarship award for MSN students is approximately $6,300 a year, which typically covers the cost of books for the academic year.
• VUSN awards three full-tuition one-year scholarships to incoming students. Recipients are selected based on holistic evaluation of their applications by the VUSN Scholarship Task Force.
• VUSN also awards three full-tuition scholarships to second-year MN Prespecialty students. Recipients are selected based on GPA.

Vanderbilt Scholarships 

All full-time DNP students receive a partial scholarship of $1,000 per semester unless their tuition is paid in full by another scholarship source. Students must be enrolled in at least two credit hours a semester to receive the scholarship. 

Nurse Faculty Loan Program

• Vanderbilt School of Nursing participates in the Nurse Faculty Loan Program of the Department of Health and Human Services. It provides financial support in the form of a loan to full or part-time students who plan to become nursing faculty. 
• Loan recipients who complete the nursing education program may cancel up to 85 percent of their loans in exchange for four years of service as full-time nurse faculty at any accredited school of nursing in the United States. DNP students will be required to take two education electives if they borrow the Nurse Faculty Loan.  
• Funding for this program is determined on a year-by-year basis by the Department of Health and Human Services. There is a designated amount that can be awarded to students each year and it is based on a first come, first serve basis.   
• Students do not need to complete the FAFSA to receive the Nurse Faculty Loan. 
• Contact Kristie Futrell, VUSN Director of Financial Aid, at 615-322-8986 or by email to: k.smith1@vanderbilt.edu

• Vanderbilt provides tuition, awards, stipends and fellowship funds to attract the best and brightest doctoral scholars. PhD in Nursing Science students receive full tuition support and a stipend. They are also considered for merit-based scholarships. 
• Grant Support for Scholarship & Dissertation Project
  • Competitive small grants are available for supporting activities related to the PhD students’ area of scholarship (e.g. attendance at boot camps or seminars) and to support dissertation research. 
• Contact heidi.hart@vanderbilt.edu for additional information.