SUNY offering $25G per year nursing degree scholarships to address worker shortage

A Stony Brook University Hospital nurse is among the inaugural class of recipients of the SUNY Healthcare Educator Scholarship, an initiative meant to attract more nursing faculty to the SUNY system.

Miller Place resident Kelly Ade joins 11 other students across the state who will receive up to $20,000 for tuition and fees and an additional $5,000 stipend yearly as they work toward a master’s degree in nursing at a SUNY school. In return, the students must commit to a three-year teaching position at an associate-level nursing program in a SUNY school.

"It’s something I always wanted to do long term in my career," Ade said about teaching. "The fact that this opportunity presented itself to me, it almost felt like it was a God-given that it happened earlier than expected."

Ade, 29, works as an operating room nurse with a specialization in open-heart surgery. The scholarship will cover her tuition as she pursues a master’s degree in the advanced practice nursing program at Stony Brook University.

SUNY officials said the scholarship program is aimed at tackling a nationwide shortage of nurses as well as qualified faculty to teach in nursing programs.

"New Yorkers are eager to pursue careers in nursing, and we need more skilled faculty to teach the next generation of nurses," SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said in a news release.

Shortage in the field

In 2023, more than 65,000 qualified applicants for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs were turned away because of lack of faculty, clinical sites and classroom space, among other factors, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that "about 194,500 openings for registered nurses are projected each year, on average" from 2023 to 2033, replacing workers who either retire or leave the workforce. In New York, SUNY officials project a need for 40,000 more registered nurses within the next five years.

Patricia Bruckenthal, dean of the Stony Brook University School of Nursing, said it’s often a challenge to recruit nursing faculty — at times because their salary is lower compared with nurse practitioners or those who work in a clinical setting. 

Bruckenthal said the Stony Brook School of Nursing enrolls about 1,000 students across the baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral programs. She praised the state’s commitment to adding nursing faculty and said she hopes the scholarship program will be expanded to educators teaching in four-year schools.

"This type of initiative will help alleviate the faculty shortage, in turn allowing us to educate more nurses," she said. 

How to qualify 

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must have a bachelor's degree and be either enrolled or accepted into a SUNY master’s program. The candidate must also be a registered nurse licensed to practice in New York with no outstanding service to another program and not already employed as faculty in a SUNY nursing program, SUNY officials said. Work experience is not required, officials said.

SUNY requires that the awardees complete their master’s program in three years and maintain a GPA of at least 3.0. The recipients are expected to start their coursework by January 2026 and eventually teach at least 18 credits per year.

Officials said a second class is expected to be announced next summer for the 2026-2027 academic year.