Joan L. Conroy Scholarship Grant

The Joan L. Conroy Scholarship, established in 2024, supports Ph.D. nursing students dedicated to educating future nurses. It honors Joan L. Conroy's legacy, emphasizing her love for education and nursing. Applicants must have two semesters left in their program and demonstrate a commitment to geriatric nursing and home health care. This scholarship is funded by the Nurses Educational Funds Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes nursing leadership through educational scholarships.

Note:
Applicants MUST have a minimum of two semesters of study remaining after notification of award in early June (i.e. summer and fall; fall and spring).NEF Scholarships are awarded directly to the successful applicants and not to their college or university.
Nurses Educational Funds
Nurses Educational Funds, Inc. depends solely on donations to advance our only mission, to promote nursing leadership through annual scholarship support for professional nurses seeking masters and doctoral degrees in nursing education, practice, research, and administration.
NEF’s only purpose is to provide nursing scholarship assistance to make graduate level nursing education possible. NEF is one of the largest, national, private, professionally endorsed source of funds for advanced nursing study with over one hundred years of service to and for professional nursing. NEF is a non-profit organization with 501(c) status.
This scholarship honoring Joan L. Conroy was established in memoriam in 2024 by her family carrying out Joan’s desire to create a continuing expression of gratitude to the nursing profession. Joan received her education at Catholic schools culminating in her B.S. degree from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. She loved music and studied the piano with a teacher from the Julliard School of music which led her to consider a career as a pianist at one point.
Later, Joan received a master’s degree in education, taught for more than twenty years and then pursued additional education in anthropology at New York University. She was a voracious reader, taught many hundreds of children how to read and after retiring continued to provide enrichment for many more years to children in the Head Start program. Joan deeply valued education. Further she valued the profession of nursing, as she was the beneficiary of the care that nurses provide to their patients.
Therefore, her scholarship is devoted to infusing her love of learning by preparing nursing educators. It is given to PhD students demonstrating a passion for educating future nurses. Further the Joan L. Conroy scholarship underscores a special interest in geriatric nursing and home health care which proved vital to Joan’s quality of life in later years. During her lifetime, donations from the Conroy Charitable Foundation were generously given to the NEF to support the mission of scholarship for leadership. This scholarship is the culmination of that generosity and will continue in perpetuity to support nursing education.

Eligibility

General RequirementsThe following requirements must be met by ALL applicants:Current RN license/Registration with current expiration date, from any state within the USA RequiredCurrent national professional nursing association membership with a current expiration date – such as the American Nurses Association, or specialty organization and/or evidence of international honor society membership (Sigma Theta Tau International).You will be asked to upload a copy of your membership card.Proof of current citizenship or legal residency status, such as:United States Passport (biographic page) with current expiration dateBirth CertificateNaturalization Certificate from the USCISPermanent Resident (Green) Card with current expiration date
Specific RequirementsMaster’s degree applicant must haveCompleted a baccalaureate degree in nursing (or the equivalent requirement if enrolled in an “entry” level Master’s program).Enrolled either full or part-time in a professionally accredited nursing program.Completed at least 12 graded credits (pass/fail & satisfactory credits are not counted) of the master’s program at the time the application is submitted.Maintained a minimum GPA of 3.6.Doctoral degree (PhD, DNP, DNAP, EdD) applicant must have:Completed a bachelor’s and master's degree.Enrolled either full or part-time in a professionally accredited nursing program.Completed at least 12 graded credits (pass/fail & satisfactory credits are not counted) of the program at the time the application is submitted.Maintained a minimum GPA of 3.6.Accelerated BSN to Doctoral (PhD, DNP, DNAP, EdD) applicant (includes student without a master's degree in nursing)Enrolled full or part-time in a professionally accredited nursing program.Completed 40 graded credits (pass/fail & satisfactory credits are not counted) of the program at the time the application is submitted.Maintained a minimum GPA of 3.6.
Accredited Graduate Nursing Programs including but not limited to master's or DNP nursing programs, are those programs that are accredited by the following:Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN); Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE); Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCC); New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE); or other recognized American Nursing College or School of Nursing Accrediting bodies.
A Nursing Program is defined here as:A graduate (master’s or doctorate) nursing program that is in a Department/School/College/University of Nursing granting graduate nursing degrees.If the applicant is enrolled in a dual degree program, one of the dual degrees must be in graduate (master’s or doctorate) nursing, granted by a nursing department/school/college/university and both of the degrees must be awarded simultaneously at the end of the program. An articulation agreement within the university or between two colleges in which degrees are given at different completion dates are ineligible (both of the degrees must be awarded simultaneously at the end of the program).

Ineligibility

A student in post-graduate certificate program is not eligible for an NEF Scholarship