Nursing Workforce Development Program Supports Accredited Nursing Programs Serving Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

HRSA's Bureau of Health Workforce offers up to $555,000 over four years to accredited nursing programs and nonprofit organizations that use evidence-based strategies to recruit, retain, and graduate nursing students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Applications are due July 8, 2026. The program uses a funding preference system that rewards applications from organizations with clinical training sites in HRSA-designated rural areas, in federally designated Medically Underserved Areas or Populations, or in partnership with state or local health departments, providing a structured advantage for organizations serving the populations and places most in need of nurses. The Project Director must be a licensed Registered Nurse.

Assistance Listing Number: 93.178
Opportunity Identification Number: HRSA-26-095
Funding Agency: Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce, Division of Nursing and Public Health
Application Deadline: July 8, 2026

Eligible Institutional Structures and Geographic Priorities

Eligible applicants include accredited schools of nursing, nursing centers, academic health centers, and domestic public or private nonprofit entities such as state and local health departments, faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, tribes, and tribal organizations. The nursing school affiliated with the proposed project must hold current accreditation from a recognized nursing accreditation body or state approval agency; organizations that cannot document this accreditation are ineligible. Only one application per organization is permitted.

Three funding preferences provide a competitive advantage. Preference 1 benefits organizations whose clinical training site falls within an HRSA-designated rural area, verified through the Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer. Preference 2 benefits organizations whose clinical training site serves a federally designated Medically Underserved Area or Medically Underserved Population. Preference 3 benefits organizations with documented linkage to a state or local health department for practicum experiences. Only one preference applies per applicant, and supporting documentation must accompany the application.

Financial Mechanics and Match Requirements

HRSA has committed $20 million for 36 awards. Individual awards range from $1 to $555,000, structured across four 12-month budget periods from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2030. Year 2 through Year 4 requests cannot exceed the Year 1 request. There is no cost-sharing or matching requirement, but there is a maintenance of effort requirement: the organization must spend at least as much in non-federal funds on proposed activities during the first award year as it spent in the fiscal year before the award.

At least 30 percent of the total annual budget must be allocated to participant and trainee support costs such as tuition, fees, health insurance, stipends, and travel. Indirect costs are capped at 8 percent of modified total direct costs, lower than the standard de minimis rate; this cap is statutory and applies to all training awards.

Administrative Compliance and Post Award Oversight

Awards operate under 2 CFR Part 200. The maintenance of effort requirement is enforced through documentation submitted with the application in Attachment 5. Recipients must track students for at least one year after program completion and submit annual performance reports by July 31 covering the prior academic year. Recipients must also participate in federally designed evaluations upon request. A Standardized Work Plan form is required as a separate application component.

The program measures success through annual reporting on the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds enrolled and graduated, faculty demographic data, and student financial support provided. A sustainability plan describing how key program activities will continue after federal funding ends is a scored component of the application.