Establishes the New York state nursing faculty scholarship incentive program for advanced degrees in nursing; provides such incentives shall be awarded annually, on a competitive basis, to registered professional nurses and certified nurse practitioners who are in a masters or doctoral program and agree to teach nursing for one year for each year such incentive is awarded.
This bill establishes the New York State Nursing Faculty Scholarship Incentive Program to help address shortages of nursing educators and adjunct clinical faculty in New York. It authorizes competitive scholarships for registered professional nurses with clinical experience who are admitted to master’s or doctoral nursing programs that will improve their ability to teach nursing. Preference is given to applicants who are already employed as nurses, attend full-time, and have at least 25% of their educational costs covered by a community agency, health care provider, or approved nursing program.
The bill creates a service-obligation model: recipients must agree to work as nursing educators or adjunct clinical faculty in approved New York nursing programs after completing their degrees. The required service is nine months of full-time teaching or faculty service for each year of scholarship support, with a minimum obligation of two academic years. If a recipient fails to fulfill the service commitment, the state may recover the scholarship funds under a statutory formula, though the obligation can be waived in cases of death or extreme hardship. Recipients must also file annual service reports and may face fines for failing to report.
The bill also amends the Education Law to authorize 30 scholarships each academic year beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year. The scholarships are split, where practicable, evenly between master’s and doctoral candidates. Each award is set at $15,000 per year, prorated for part-time enrollment by credit hours, and capped at the recipient’s cost of attendance. Covered costs include tuition, fees, room and board, supplies, transportation, health insurance, books, child care, and a living-expense stipend.
Its main legal effect is to add a new state scholarship and service-obligation program to the Education Law, specifically sections governing higher education aid and nursing education. The program would create a new funding stream and administrative responsibilities for the commissioner and the Higher Education Services Corporation, while also tying scholarship eligibility to future teaching service in New York nursing programs that lead to licensure.
The overall sentiment reflected by the bill’s design is supportive of workforce development and nursing education capacity, with the program structured to incentivize advanced training and retain nurse educators in the state. No committee transcript or vote data is available, so there is no recorded opposition or debate in the provided materials. The main potential point of contention inherent in the bill is the service commitment and repayment requirement, which may be viewed as burdensome by some applicants, though the bill also includes hardship and death waivers to soften that obligation.
The bill would amend the Education Law to create a new nursing faculty scholarship incentive program and a corresponding scholarship authorization for 30 annual awards beginning in the 2027-2028 academic year. It would affect the Higher Education Services Corporation, the commissioner of education, nursing schools, and eligible registered professional nurses pursuing graduate nursing degrees, while imposing post-graduation teaching/service obligations and repayment rules for noncompliance.
Based on the bill text and caption, the measure appears broadly supportive of expanding the nursing educator pipeline and addressing faculty shortages in higher education and clinical nursing instruction. No votes or committee discussion were provided, so there is no recorded legislative controversy or formal opposition in the available materials. The structure of the bill suggests a policy consensus around workforce development, though it also reflects a preference for accountability through service commitments and repayment provisions.
The most notable potential point of contention is the mandatory service obligation: recipients must teach or serve as adjunct clinical faculty for a set period after receiving aid, and failure to do so can trigger repayment with interest. Some may also question the administrative burden of annual reporting, the fine for late reports, and the competitive selection process. On the other hand, supporters are likely to emphasize the program’s targeted approach, the hardship waiver, and the goal of increasing the number of qualified nursing educators in New York.