House Bill 396 establishes a new Nursing Fellows Program at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) to recruit and support students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing or a Master of Science in Nursing Education. The program would provide forgivable loans to selected students, with the goal of increasing the number of nurses and nurse instructors serving in North Carolina, especially in areas with staffing shortages. The bill also creates a dedicated Nursing Fellows Program Trust Fund to hold appropriated money, repayments, and interest, and directs the State Education Assistance Authority and WSSU’s School of Health Sciences to administer the program jointly.
The bill sets detailed eligibility, selection, and service-repayment rules. Recipients must meet academic and service-related criteria, and loans are forgiven in stages as graduates work as nurses or nurse instructors in the state. The bill also requires annual reporting to the legislature on recipient demographics, placement and repayment outcomes, mentoring support, and employer outcomes. In addition to the new fellowship program, the bill appropriates recurring funds for curriculum support services at WSSU to provide mentoring, coaching, and related assistance for nursing students.
HB396 would amend Chapter 116 of the North Carolina General Statutes to add a new Nursing Fellows Program specific to Winston-Salem State University and would expand the State Education Assistance Authority’s collection and administration duties to include this program. It would create a new trust fund, authorize forgivable loans for nursing students and future nurse instructors, and require WSSU to provide administrative support and participate in recruitment, selection, and reporting. The bill also appropriates $1.4 million in recurring General Fund money to establish the trust fund and $100,000 in recurring funds for WSSU curriculum-support services, making it a direct state investment in nursing education and workforce development.
The available record shows no committee debate or recorded votes, so there is no documented opposition or support beyond the bill’s introduction and referral. Based on the text, the bill appears to be framed positively as a workforce-development and student-support measure, with an emphasis on addressing nursing shortages and strengthening nursing education at WSSU. The absence of transcripts or votes means sentiment can only be inferred from the bill’s purpose and structure, not from legislative discussion.
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided materials. Potential areas of concern that could arise from the bill’s design include the use of recurring General Fund appropriations, the bill’s focus on a single university, the administrative burden placed on WSSU and the State Education Assistance Authority, and the strict selection standards for recipients. The bill also ties forgiveness to service obligations and includes repayment enforcement provisions, which could draw attention if lawmakers question program design, equity, or long-term fiscal commitments.