May 14, 2013
Grant Funds Full Four-Year Scholarships for Promising Students
The Catholic University of America School of Nursing has received the first installment of a $4 million grant from Bedford Falls Foundation Charitable Trust, a foundation established by William E. Conway Jr., co-chief executive officer and managing director of The Carlyle Group, and his wife, Joanne, to fund full four-year scholarships for promising students who will be encouraged to fill nursing jobs in the Washington, D.C., area after graduation.
The grant, which includes $1 million annual installments over four years, provides for The William and Joanne Conway Nursing Scholars Program for academically qualified students with demonstrated financial need.
"This very generous grant from William and Joanne Conway's foundation will affect the lives of thousands of patients," said Patricia McMullen, dean of nursing. "The grant will significantly increase the number of students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree. They will become readily employable professionals qualified to provide quality health care to patients, families, and communities over the course of their careers."
The scholarships will cover tuition, fees, room and board, and books. The grant also funds a position for a faculty mentor who will work with Conway Scholars throughout their studies at Catholic University. In addition, the grant pays for a review course to prepare Conway Scholars for the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX) that they will take after graduation.
The nursing school will provide the Conway Scholars with opportunities for clinical placements and summer internships in D.C. as a way to encourage them to pursue jobs in the area when they graduate.
"We are enormously grateful to Bedford Falls, and its trustees William and Joanne Conway, for their generosity," said Catholic University President John Garvey. "They have created a wonderful opportunity and a path to success for young people who want to become nurses. It's safe to say that St. Agatha now has competition for the role of patron saint of nurses."
The expected demand for nurses has never been higher, according to experts. Recent projections by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the total number of job openings for nurses will increase to 1.2 million by the year 2020, a 26 percent rise in just 10 years.
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Founded in 1887 and located in the heart of Washington, D.C., The Catholic University of America is unique as the national university of the Catholic Church in America. The only U.S. university established by the nation's Catholic bishops, CUA marked a special chapter in its distinguished history on April 17, 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI addressed Catholic educators from around the nation on campus. The University opened as a graduate research institution; undergraduate programs were introduced in 1904. Today the private and coeducational campus has approximately 6,800 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in 13 schools of architecture and planning, arts and sciences, business and economics, canon law, engineering, law, library and information science, music, nursing, philosophy, professional studies, social service, and theology and religious studies.