Mercy University Awarded $1.68 Million HRSA Grant to Expand and Diversify Nursing Workforce in Underserved Communities

Funding supports a comprehensive initiative to help graduate nursing students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds complete their degrees

DOBBS FERRY, NY, UNITED STATES, October 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Mercy University has been awarded a four-year, $1.68 million federal Nursing Workforce Development grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to help address critical shortages in primary care and psychiatric healthcare across the New York City metropolitan area. The funding will support a comprehensive initiative titled “Increasing Enrollment and Retention of Family and Psych-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners,” designed to help graduate nursing students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds complete their advanced degrees and deliver essential healthcare to high-need communities.

“This grant allows us to remove the financial and systemic obstacles that often stand between talented nurses and advanced clinical practice,” said Kristin Curry Greenwood, PT, DPT, EdD, MS, FNAP, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Mercy University. “Many of our graduate nursing students are first-generation college graduates balancing full-time jobs and family responsibilities. By supporting these students holistically, we are not only helping them succeed academically, but we are also directly addressing the severe shortage of primary care and mental health providers in our most vulnerable neighborhoods.”

Through this grant, Mercy University will provide tuition stipends, specialized academic tutoring, peer mentorship, and career transition support to 40 graduate nursing students enrolled in its Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) programs.

Scholarship recipients will receive:

Financial Aid: Eligible students will receive annual stipends of $12,000 to substantially offset tuition costs, helping reduce educational debt and financial stress.

Targeted Academic Tutoring: Flexible evening and weekend tutoring led by faculty experts in demanding subject areas like pharmacology and health assessment, along with board certification preparation.

Peer Mentorship & Advising: Incoming students will be paired with graduating students and recent alumni for one-on-one guidance, alongside mental health and academic advising resources.

Community-Focused Clinical Training: Students will train through Mercy’s extensive clinical network including major healthcare partners such as Montefiore Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian, Northwell Health and Open Door Family Health to prepare them for practice in medically underserved areas.

“This grant expands access to high-quality training and supports student success in the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) programs,” said Zainab Toteh Osakwe, PhD, MSN, RN, NP, FAAN, senior associate dean and Chief Nursing Officer at Mercy University. “By growing the NP workforce through Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner training, this program will improve access to essential primary and psychiatric care in communities where provider shortages are most prevalent.”

“If you are a registered nurse who has been contemplating getting an advance degree as a family nurse practitioner or psych-mental nurse practitioner, now is the time to take advantage of the financial aid offered by Mercy University’s HRSA grant as well as the additional academic support that we will now be offering,” said Sylvie Rosenbloom, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CDCES, director of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at Mercy University, who will oversee the initiative as project director. “Our programs offer clinical settings in areas that cater to the medically underserved population, preparing our graduate students to understand and care for the complex mental and medical needs of this population.”

For more information about the programs eligible for this scholarship, visit https://mercy.edu/academics/programs/masters-family-nurse-practitioner-details or https://mercy.edu/academics/programs/masters-psychiatric-mental-health-nurse-practitioner-details.

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About Mercy University
Mercy University is an independent, coeducational institution serving more than 9,000 students each year across campuses in Westchester, the Bronx, Manhattan, as well as online. It is a federally designated minority-serving institution and the largest private Hispanic Serving Institution in the state of New York. Mercy offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificate programs within six schools: Business, Education, Health and Natural Sciences, Liberal Arts, Nursing and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Mercy was founded in 1950 by the Sisters of Mercy whose mission of transformative education remains strong. For more information, visit www.mercy.edu.

Zodet Negron
Mercy University
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