Mercy Receives $247,719 to Help Nation's Nursing Teacher Supply

Mercy College will receive a quarter-million-dollar federal grant to help address the nation’s nursing shortage by providing loan forgiveness for graduate students who go on to teach nursing. 

Nursing teachers are needed because the United States has a shortage of nurses. It's not just that there aren't enough nurses, but there's a shortage of teachers for those who want to pursue that career.

By 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that more than 1.2 million additional RNs will be needed to work in acute care hospitals, long-term care facilities, community health centers, nursing schools, and other areas, says the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland), the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, announced the  $247,719 grant July 16.

It will come to Mercy from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Nurse Faculty Loan Program.

With this grant award, Mercy College will make loans to help registered nurses who are completing their graduate education to become qualified nurse faculty.  Loan recipients who go on to become full-time faculty at an accredited school of nursing may cancel 85 percent of the loan over four years.  

 “Every day, nearly three million nurses work on the frontlines of our nation’s healthcare system. In order to meet growing demand, we need to increase the number of young people who become nurses. We can only do that if we have the educators to train them,” said Lowey in the press release. “Mercy College will utilize these funds to train the next generation of nurses and nurse educators right here in the Lower Hudson Valley.”

 “Mercy College is extremely pleased to be awarded these funds to support our graduate nursing education students,” said Concetta M. Stewart, Ph.D., Interim President of Mercy College. “This financial support from the Nurse Faculty Loan Program helps increase the number of nurse educators who wish to pursue faculty positions, addresses the nursing shortage, locally and nationally, and helps meet the need to increase access to health care by developing and retaining a diverse, culturally competent health workforce.”