The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently awarded MCCN a New Careers in Nursing $50,000 grant to fund scholarships for students enrolled in the Second Degree Accelerated Program (SDAP). Tanika Cherry-Montgomery, PhD, RN-BC, Coordinator of SDAP, wrote the application that secured the grant. The program will award five $10,000 scholarships to students who are considered underrepresented in nursing.
SDAP is a rigorous 13-month program designed for students who already have a bachelor’s degree in another specialty to pursue to a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Full-time students begin in January of one year and complete the program in February of the following year. Program tuition is approximately $34,000.
The grant is specifically for accelerated nursing programs. Because SDAP is an intensive 13-month program, students who are in the program give up full time jobs to study for their BSN. In addition, students in SDAP are not eligible for grants because the BSN will be their second bachelor's degree. This can create financial hardship at home because many have mortgages and families that are affected by their decision to return to nursing school.
“This is the third time that SDAP has been funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing Grant. Unfortunately, this is the last funding year for this particular grant. Over the three years MCCN has won the grant, the College has had the ability to help 25 underrepresented students in nursing achieve their dream of becoming a baccalaureate-prepared nurse,” Cherry-Montgomery said.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted solely to the public's health. Robert Wood Johnson, former leader of his family’s company, Johnson & Johnson, established the foundation in 1972. Johnson “strongly advocated improved education for both doctors and nurses,” and “admired a keen medical mind that also was linked to a caring heart,” as noted on the foundation’s website, rwjf.org.