NMSU nursing school endowed

Thought this was of interest: Nursing school endowed - The Deming Headlight

The New Mexico State University Foundation has secured a $100,000 scholarship endowment from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation to establish an endowed scholarship in nursing at NMSU.

The scholarship fund will support undergraduate education, serve economically disadvantaged minority students and support professional study in nursing. The Hearst scholarships will also help contribute to the improvement of access to quality health care for underserved populations, particularly Hispanic families in rural areas.

"We are extremely excited about this scholarship and what it means for the School of Nursing and especially for the students," said Esperanza Villanueva-Joyce, the associate dean for nursing education and the director of NMSU's School of Nursing. "This scholarship will allow some students to focus less on working to help pay for school and more on studying."

Villanueva-Joyce credits the School of Nursing's student-focused approach to teaching and the school's excellent facilities as a reason for being granted the money. She also hopes this award will set a precedent for future scholarship money being awarded to NMSU's School of Nursing.

"Hearst is a very prestigious foundation and typically funds only top, private institutions," said Rebecca Sellars, director of corporate and foundation relations at NMSU. "Part of the process involved convincing Hearst that the NMSU Foundation was fully capable of investing and managing an endowment of this magnitude. We are fortunate to have received this very generous gift."

Income from the endowment's investment, approximately $4,000 annually depending on market conditions, will be made available in scholarship support for Hispanic nursing students. Each semester, four Hispanic nursing students will receive the scholarship to offset education expenses, including tuition, fees and books.

To learn more about NMSU's School of Nursing, visit The School of Nursing - New Mexico State University and for information about the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, visit http://hearstfdn.org .