Application Process

Applications

We begin accepting applications each year on January 15 for the Academic Year starting the following Fall. All applications must be completed (i.e., both the online application and all supporting documents received by us) by . Completed applications will be evaluated by the Scholarship Review Committee (SRC), with Scholarship award decisions emailed to applicants during the third week in April.

Applications are submitted via a secure, online form located at rnhfoundation.org/apply. After your application is received, we'll email you a link to a secure Dropbox document portal created just for you. You'll use this portal to upload the documents that will support your application (click here for the list of documents you'll need).

All applications will be accepted and reviewed, including referrals from Board members and others known to them.

You must be a citizen of the United States; proof of citizenship is required.

Application Scoring

Your application will be evaluated and scored by each member of the SRC using the rubric below. The scoring rubric is weighted to give preference to applicants currently employed in the nursing industry, then to those who are working (or have worked) in a nursing-related capacity and also to current nursing students, then to high school (pending) graduates and those who have earned a GED. To help ensure we are serving those most in need of financial support, we mimic the income guidelines used to qualify first-time homebuyers. We use an online tool to determine how your Qualifying Income (see below) compares to the Area Median Income (AMI) for your address of record. If you are claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return, the Qualifying Income of that person or persons will be used to determine your eligibility. Instructions for the AMI can be found below.

We have a deep connection to our local community, so some preference will be given to applicants residing closer to the City of Rockville, as indicated in the scoring rubric. However, since the aim of the scholarships is to ensure the availability of qualified nurses in any location, applications from otherwise eligible persons will be considered, even if they don't live in the immediate area.

A Brief Response (max of 500 characters) to EITHER of the following questions will be required during the online application:

1. What is the most rewarding part of the work you do?

2. If you look 10 years into the future, please describe what you want to have accomplished (academically and/or professionally) that would make you say, “I’m proud and happy with what I’ve done the last 10 years.”

A Letter of Recommendation is a required element of each Application.

After we have received your application and all required supporting documents, we will contact you to set up a time for a brief virtual interview with the three members of our Scholarship Review Committee.

Your application will be scored by three members of the SRC using the Scoring Rubric below. Each SRC member will award between 23 and 102 points per application. Each application will be scored and the points awarded by each member will be totaled to yield your application's Total Score, which can range from a minimum of 69 points to a maximum of 306 points. Tie scores between applications will be resolved by giving preference to the application with the earlier submission timestamp (the date/time at which all elements of the application process were completed [application, virtual interview, and all required supporting documents]).

Disbursement

Scholarship funds will be disbursed directly from the Foundation to the school. Scholarship funds may only be disbursed to a program, college, or university accredited by the Accreditation Association for the Education of Nurses and/or the Commission on the Collegiate Nursing Education.