Government supported programs
The U-M School of Nursing participates in several state and federal programs aimed at ensuring qualified students are not denied the pursuit of a nursing career due to the lack of financial resources, while also increasing the number of nurse educators and alleviating the shortage of nursing personnel. Below is more information on these programs.
National Institute of Nursing Research
Graduate students
The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the federal government’s primary agency for supporting nursing research. NINR supports and conducts clinical and basic research and research training on acute and chronic illness across the life span; the focus of this research is health promotion, disease prevention, symptoms management, self-management, and care at the end of life.
In providing this funding, NINR aims to fulfill two primary objectives: first, to address the critical shortage in nursing faculty; and second to develop workforce-prepared nursing researchers, ready accept leadership roles related to the nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research agenda. For the U-M School of Nursing, such supervised pre-doctoral research training opportunities have been of utmost importance to our students as well as to the advancement of nursing science.
Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional Research Training Grant (T32)
Awarded directly to institutions that have high-quality research programs in areas that have a significant impact on the health-related research needs of the nation.
Individual Predoctoral Fellow National Research Service Award (NRSA)
Awarded directly to individual predoctoral fellows. Both funding opportunities provide tuition/fees assistance, a stipend, health insurance benefits, and coverage of other training related expenses.
For more information regarding the Institutional Training Grant (T32) and the individual NRSA pre-doctoral fellow research training grant program, please contact the Ph.D Program Office.
Nurse Faculty Loan program
MSN, DNP, and Ph.D. students
A shortage in nursing faculty has greatly hindered efforts at increasing the number of nurse practitioners nationally. The Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) is a federally-sponsored initiative that seeks to recruit graduates from advanced nursing education programs into teaching positions across the nation. The program provides participating schools the ability to make loans to students who are enrolled full-time or part-time in masters and doctoral nursing programs and intend to seek faculty positions after graduation. Students are required to complete education components designed to enhance competencies in teaching and learning skills with a particular focus on nursing education in addition to the typical course load for the student’s advanced degree. All requirements are monitored by the Office of Practice and Professional Graduate Studies and must be met by graduation.
Students may request up to $40,000 per academic year. The funds provided by this federal program must be used to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, lab expenses, and other reasonable education expenses. The NFLP is a direct loan program with a cancellation provision for recipients of the loan. Students may be eligible to have up to 85% of this loan forgiven if they serve as a full-time nurse faculty for a consecutive four-year period at a school of nursing following graduation. If the borrower is unable to secure a full-time faculty position at a school of nursing within 12 months following graduation, the NFLP loan reverts to an interest-bearing loan with a 10-year repayment schedule.
Students must apply prior to the beginning of each term to receive NFLP funding. The UMSN Financial Aid Office will also send an email to all UMSN graduate students once the application for each term becomes available.
Please see below for additional information about the application process, as well as deadlines to apply for the following terms:
Winter 2025 Term: The application is now open. Please apply through the following link: Winter 2025 Term - Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) On-Line Application
Spring/Summer 2025 Term: The application is not currently available.
Health Resources & Science Administration (HRSA)
For additional sources of financial aid available to health professions students and practitioners, visit the HRSA website.
