Nursing Student Success Fund

Pathways to Practice - Supporting Success

Apply for the Nursing Student Success Fund

Applications for the 2026-2027 Cohort will open on April 24 - 8am MT.

Up to $5,000 will be awarded to six Colorado prelicensure nursing students entering their final year as a prelicensure student for the 2026-2027 academic year. Stipend funds will be disbursed monthly over a 10-month period. Funds may support tuition, however, are not restricted to tuition and may be used as the awardee needs. Examples include travel expenses such as gas and car maintenance, day care, groceries, rent/mortgage, and purchasing a laptop or books.

All NSSP funded students will agree to monthly coaching calls with their assigned coach, sign a contract allowing funds to be distributed directly into their checking account, and agree to maintain good academic standing. If a student is not able to meet these requirements, they will be asked to pay back any funds they have received so others may be brought into the program.

Eligibility REQUIREMENTS, all applicants must be:

- entering your final year in an accredited undergraduate nursing program located in Colorado - either ADN or BSN
- in good academic standing
- able to show need
- planning to stay and serve as a Registered Nurse in Colorado for at least two years following graduation and passage of NCLEX
- willing to participate in monthly coaching calls

If you do not meet these requirements, do not apply. You will be immediately removed from the application list if you do not meet the requirements.

Click the button below to apply. NOTE: the application will not be open until Friday, April 24, 2026 at 8:00 am MT. The application will close promptly on Monday, April 27, 2026 at 5:00 pm MT.

Apply Here

Up to $5000 to support you while in nursing school!

Purpose: Provide you with income for support while in nursing school. Funds may be spent on daycare, groceries, travel expenses, rent, books, tuition, student fees or cover other expenses you may have.

Eligibility: Any undergraduate nursing student admitted to a CO Board of Nursing approved, accredited nursing program and working towards an ADN or BSN in the state of Colorado.

Contact Ingrid Johnson at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Student Frequently Asked Questions

How do I apply for this financial award?

How are the awardees selected?

Applications will be reviewed and scored by a standardized rubric. Reviewers are comprised of Nurses from Professional nursing organizations, academia, acute care, and Center advisory committees. Each application’s demographic data is redacted from reviewers and each application will be reviewed and scored by several reviewers.

Top candidates are then required to interview virtually with Center program staff. Each candidate will answer standardized questions which are then scored by a rubric. From these candidates four will be chosen.

When does the application close?

Who is eligible to apply?

How do I know if my school is Approved by the Colorado Board of Nursing?

How much money is the financial award?

How many awards will be awarded?

Do I have to spend the money on tuition?

When will I know if I was awarded funds?

What are the expectations if I receive these funds?

Can I apply again if I received funds previously?

Is this financial award taxable income?

This Nursing Student Success Fund will provide financial and other support services to nursing students to eliminate barriers of successful completion of school and transition to practice. Continuing the Center's commitment to support underserved and marginalized communities, the focus of this program will be to build the nursing workforce in communities that need them most.

Donate Now

As Colorado’s only nursing focused healthcare workforce center, our focus now, along with the rest of the country, is to help increase the number of nurses serving our communities.

Nursing Student Success fund, Nurses Smiling

This Nursing Student Success Fund will provide financial and other support services to nursing students to eliminate barriers of successful completion of school and transition to practice. Continuing the Center's commitment to support underserved and marginalized communities, the focus of this program will be to build the nursing workforce in communities that need them most.

This is where you come in. We invite you, and/or your organization, to partner with us to help build the fund aimed at building our state’s nursing workforce. There are multiple ways to donate and every donation makes a difference. 100% of all donations go directly into the Nursing Student Success Fund.

How to Donate to the Nursing Student Success Fund

These funds will provide financial and other support services to nursing students to help eliminate barriers of successful completion of school and transition to practice.

One Time Donation

use zelle to donate to Nursing Student Success fund

If your bank doesn’t support QR code scanning use email: [email protected]

One Time or Recurring Monthly Donation

Donate Now

$5,000 can support a nurse for a year - give today to support a nurse. One-time payment of $5,000 or make a monthly payment over a year or more.

Corporate / Organization Donations

The Center welcomes Community Partner donations. Donations can made online through the links above. If your organization wants to donate and prefers not to donate online, please contact Laura Chandler - [email protected].

Meet the 2024-2025 Fellows

Amber Armstrong

Amber lives in Sanford Colorado, a small rural community in the San Luis Valley. She attends Trinidad State College (Valley campus) and will complete her ADN in May of 2025 and bridge to the RN-BSN Program summer of 2025. Amber’s motivation for nursing started after her nephew’s were in a tragic car accident and an ICU RN inspired her and gave her the confidence boost she needed. She is a single mom of three children and helps provide care for her nephew who survived with a 3rd degree traumatic brain injury.

Jaizil Gonzalez

Jaizil “Jazzy” lives in Sanford, Colorado a small rural community in the San Luis Valley. She is a mom to a 2 year old girl. She attends Trinidad State College (Valley Campus) and will complete her ADN in May of 2025 and bridge to the RN-BSN Program summer of 2025. She is a member of Alpha Delta Nu Honor society and president of the Colorado Student Nurses Association. Growing up in the foster system she experienced health inequities and adversity. Her motivation for nursing stems from these experiences. She wants to pursue rural medicine to provide care to disadvantaged individuals like herself and bridge the health care access gap. Her long term goal is to become a NP.

Alicia Torres

Alicia lives in Trinidad Colorado, a small rural community in south central Colorado. She attends Trinidad State College (Trinidad campus) and will complete her ADN in May of 2025 and bridge to the RN-BSN Program summer of 2025. Her motivation to pursue nursing has been a dream since she was a child and watched her mother try to make it through CNA school but had to work to support her family. She is proud that she will be the first in her family to have a degree. She works two jobs to support her two children while managing nursing school. Her long term goal is to specialize in Forensics, become a SANE and an FNP.