SU gets $2.58 million grant

WINCHESTER — Shenandoah University has received the largest competitive grant in its history.

The $2.58 million in federal funds will go to the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing.

The grant, funded by the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) program, will provide $645,000 in scholarships for full-time undergraduate nursing students each year for the next four years.

Through the grant, at least 43 scholarships will be awarded, beginning this year.

“This can attract people who are thinking about college but can’t afford it,” said Kathy Ganske, dean of the nursing school.

Current students can also apply for the scholarships.

“It relieves me,” Ganske said. “We know students who struggle to pay for the college experience and families who struggle to help them. This is a relief for them.”

Full-year scholarships of $15,000 will be awarded, along with half-year scholarships of $7,500.

Congress established the SDS program in 1990 to increase diversity in the nursing and health professions workforce. It provides grants so schools can award scholarships to financially limited students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Last year, three SDS nursing scholarships were awarded at SU totaling $55,164.

Ganske said the grant was much higher than last year’s in anticipation of the severe nursing shortage expected across the nation.

Previously, SU’s largest competitive grant was a $1.188 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant in 2011 under HRSA’s Advanced Nursing Education Expansion program.

SU’s largest non-competitive grant was $1.5 million in a 2002 federal appropriation for the school’s history and tourism center.

Last week, SU’s nursing division was named the Eleanor Wade Custer School of Nursing. It has about 450 undergraduate and graduate students.

SU’s enrollment is about 4,000.

— Contact Rebecca Layne atrlayne@winchesterstar.com