By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A new program at Missouri Western State University will help students getting into nursing to make college more affordable.
The Nursing Scholars of Promise program, a collaboration with Mosaic Life Care, will hope to address the nursing shortage at Mosaic.
Missouri Western President Elizabeth Kennedy says one of the biggest barriers to get into nursing, is how much it costs
"Even at Missouri Western, even though our tuition we are committed to keeping it low, we are the fourth lowest in the state, we have revamped our scholarships to be able to provide more students with more funds, but that's a barrier, how am I going to pay for college," Kennedy tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr.
The program will provide tuition, through the first three years, as well as a career and academic support to students who agree to work for Mosaic Life Care for at least four years after graduation.
Kennedy says students will have to apply for the program, and it is competitive, but its designed to help in a couple different ways
"First of all, Mosaic has agreed to pay for two years of tuition and fees, and with what we can do at the University we'll be able to cover at least another year," Kennedy explains. "So that's 75% or three years of a four-year degree in nursing, and what will happen is we will have a mentor that will be working with these students."
Kennedy says part of the program, by partnering with Mosaic, will allow students to work part time at the hospital, starting out at entry level positions
"To learn what is a hospital like, what is the organization like," Kennedy says. "And as they progress through the program and they gain more skills, they'll move to a nurses aid, to a nursing assistant, but all the while working 12 hours a week during the academic year, and if it works out Mosaic has even said they'll offer them part time work in the summer."
Kennedy says the whole focus of the program is to help provide high level experienced nurses to Mosaic, and keep students in the area, with them already being part of the Mosaic system through the program.
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