Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students - The California State University, Fullerton School of Nursing (CSUF SON) proposes Enriching Nursing Resources to Impact Community Health (ENRICH-Midwifery) in response to the HRSA Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) Program (HRSA-26-096). The project will support full-time Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Nurse-Midwifery/Women's Health Nurse Practitioner students from disadvantaged backgrounds who face substantial financial, academic, and socio-environmental barriers to graduate education. As California's only MSN Nurse-Midwifery/Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Program, preparing graduates for dual national certification, the program is academically rigorous and clinically intensive, substantially limiting many students' ability to maintain employment while enrolled. For students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the cost of attendance (COA), which includes tuition, fees, books, transportation, housing, and living expenses, can threaten persistence and timely program completion. The goal of ENRICH-Midwifery is to strengthen the health professions and nursing workforce by supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are more likely to practice in primary care and medically vulnerable communities. The project objectives are to: (1) increase enrollment and retention of full-time MSN Nurse-Midwifery/Women's Health Nurse Practitioner students from disadvantaged backgrounds; (2) increase the number of graduates practicing in primary care; and (3) increase the number of graduates working in rural, Tribal, and other medically vulnerable communities. ENRICH-Midwifery will implement four integrated strategies: recruitment and enrollment, scholarship support, retention and student success, and workforce preparation. Eligible full-time students from disadvantaged backgrounds with verified financial need will receive HRSA-SDS scholarship support in accordance with HRSA-26-096 scholarship requirements. Scholarships will be at least half the cost of the student's annual tuition, will not exceed $40,000 per academic year or the student's verified financial need, and will support persistence and timely graduation. Students will also have access to coordinated academic and student success resources, including faculty and graduate advising, writing support, mentoring, and a Learning Specialist/Academic Success Coach. Student progression, retention, graduation, attrition, and use of support resources will be monitored to identify barriers and strengthen student support strategies. Workforce preparation activities will connect students with clinical experiences, alumni mentors, career resources, and employers serving rural, Tribal, and other medically vulnerable communities and populations with significant health care access needs. Career Day, employer engagement, and graduate employment follow-up will support students' transition into the nurse-midwifery and women's health nurse practitioner workforce. Graduate employment in primary care, rural, Tribal, and other medically vulnerable communities will be tracked for up to one year after program completion. Building on CSUF SON's experience implementing HRSA Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students and Nursing Workforce Diversity projects, ENRICH-Midwifery will use established student support, scholarship administration, clinical partnership, data management, and evaluation infrastructure to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds from enrollment through graduation and transition into practice. By increasing the number of advanced practice nurses prepared to provide comprehensive primary, reproductive, maternal, and women's health care in medically vulnerable communities, ENRICH-Midwifery will help address critical shortages in California's maternal health workforce. The project will strengthen California's maternal and women's health workforce and improve access to primary, reproductive, maternal, and women's health care for communities with unmet health care needs.
