Scholarship applications are being accepted in April for the Fall 2026 semester for the Oklahoma Health Care Workforce Training Commission (HWTC) Nursing Student Assistance Program. Application deadline is July 15.
Sponsored by the State of Oklahoma through HWTC, the Nursing Student Assistance Program provides assistance to Oklahoma nursing students pursuing LPN, ADN, BSN, or MSN and higher degrees and who are interested in practicing nursing in Oklahoma communities, with emphasis placed on rural communities for LPN through MSN practicing nurses. Nurse Practitioners (MSN/DNP) must establish a rural practice.
HWTC supports Oklahoma nurse training programs through this scholarship for MSN, DPN, and PhD participants. Obligations for these degrees can be fulfilled as a nurse educator at any Oklahoma nursing program. The mission of the HWTC is to increase access to health care workers in the rural and underserved areas of Oklahoma. The program has been in existence since 1982.
“It (program) has been deemed a success,” Michelle Cecil, HWTC Nursing Program Director said. “I started in 1991 and when I started, we were getting a lot of applications, and we were giving out a lot of scholarships.”
Cecil said program applicants must be:
• U.S. Citizen
• Legal resident of Oklahoma
• Unconditionally admitted as a
student in an OKLAHOMA accredited
program of nursing study. Certification of acceptance or of being a student in good academic standing must be submitted from the Director of Nursing Program ONLY.
• Please note that online nursing programs must be administered by an educational institution based in Oklahoma in order to qualify for HWTC assistance. Nursing Program eligibility is based on the location of the MAIN CAMPUS.
• Must have an overall GPA of 3.0 on the most recent transcript.
• Applicants must be willing to practice outside of the OKC/Tulsa metro areas. Some state facilities in the OKC/Tulsa MSA will be considered as eligible practice locations
• $1,500 – $5,000 per year for nursing scholarships
The programs provide assistance to Oklahoma nursing students pursuing LPN, ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, and PhD degrees and who are interested in rural Oklahoma communities, State Teaching, Hospitals, and Nurse Training Programs across Oklahoma.
Upon completion of school and licensing, the nurse is obligated to practice nursing, at the degree level for which financial assistance was received, one year for each academic year of financial assistance. The minimum obligation is one year. The obligated work must be in direct patient care in a hospital setting (clinics and private practices do not qualify), or as a full-time nursing program educator.
Obligations for LPN and RN level participants must be fulfilled in a rural Oklahoma community outside of the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas (some exceptions apply, see below). This is defined by HWTC as at least 25 miles away from OKC or Tulsa.
• Up to $60,000 for loan repayment for Nurse Practitioners
• Rural obligations required
“We also do have the loan repayment program for Nurse Practitioners,” Kami Fullingim, Executive Director said. “That just started a year ago. And so that is up to $60,000 in loan repayment for student loans. And it requires a three-year service obligation if you get the full $60,000.” For those applicants who intend to establish a new rural practice as an APRN, their practice must be at least 35 miles away from OKC or 30 miles away from Tulsa in order to qualify.
Cecil said there is a critical need for nurses/nursing instructors to serve in rural areas in Oklahoma and across the nation.
“We’re needing faculty across our schools and (nurses in our) hospitals. A lot of the hospitals are getting sign-on bonuses and things like that in order to recruit. We’re facing the same shortages (in Oklahoma) that everywhere else has,” she said.
For more information about the scholarship program call HWTC at
(405) 604-0020 or email Cecil at [email protected] or Aleigha
Old Crow Nursing Program Manager at [email protected].
To apply, visit www.oklahoma.gov/hwtc/nursing-programs.html.
