NEWS

CHAPEL HILL -- The nation’s largest private foundation devoted exclusively to supporting nursing students and their education recently established a scholarship fund for undergraduate nursing students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Helene Fuld Health Trust, with HSBC Bank USA as trustee, recently awarded UNC’s School of Nursing a $547,500 grant to establish an endowment for the Helene Fuld Health Trust Scholarship Fund for Baccalaureate Nursing Students. The fund is for pre-licensure students in the school’s traditional 24-month bachelor of science in nursing program and the accelerated 14-month BSN program for students who already have college degrees.

Between eight and 10 scholarships will be awarded annually beginning this fall based on students’ financial need. Award amounts will be $2,500 to $3,500, depending on annual income from the endowment.

"The Helene Fuld Health Trust has made an investment in an outstanding school of nursing whose combination of low tuition and high-quality students will return great value on this endowment for generations to come," said Dr. Linda Cronenwett, dean of UNC’s School of Nursing. 

"We are proud that our baccalaureate program, students and faculty were deemed worthy of this extraordinary grant."

More than 300 undergraduate nursing students were enrolled at UNC during the 2003-2004 academic year. Estimated annual full-time tuition and fees for these students totaled $4,072 for in-state students and $15,920 for out-of-state students.

"Strong undergraduate nursing education prepares competent and caring entry-level nurses and develops the foundation upon which to build our future clinicians, researchers, educators, administrators and policy-makers in health care, but it is costly," said Dr. Beverly Foster, clinical associate professor and director of undergraduate nursing programs.

"This money will allow us to provide opportunities for qualified applicants, who might otherwise be disinclined to take this first professional step due to financial reasons."

The UNC School of Nursing was established in 1950 and was the first statewide to offer a four-year baccalaureate nursing degree program. In 2001, the school became the first statewide to offer an accelerated undergraduate nursing program to students with college degrees.

The Fuld Trust was created in 1935 by Dr. Leonhard Felix Fuld and his sister, Florentine, to honor the memory of their mother, Helene Schwab Fuld.

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School of Nursing contact: Sunny Smith Nelson, (919) 966-1412 or sunny_nelson@unc.edu
Helene Fuld Health Trust, HSBC Bank USA, Trustee contact: Marianne Caskran, (212) 525-2418