Nursing Education Scholarship Program (NESP)

Below is information about the Nursing Education Scholarship Program (NESP), the administration of which is currently being transitioned from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) to ISAC.

NOTE: This program is different from the Nurse Educator Scholarship Program, which is no longer funded and for which no new awarding will take place.

Program News

(last updated March 1, 2023)

2023-24 Application – 2023-24 applications due April 30
2022-23 Payment
2022-23 Application
2022-23 Program Funding

2023-24

Application

Students may access the NESP application via the Program Applications & Status Checks area of the ISAC Student Portal.

The NESP application period each year starts on March 1 and continues through April 30. To be considered for funds during the 2023-24 academic year, the NESP Application/Promissory Note/Grant Agreement must be submitted to ISAC on or before Sunday, April 30, 2023.

Further details are provided at the Nursing Education Scholarship Program Application Procedures page.

What’s Next

Colleges will utilize the GAP Access portal to administer 2023-24 NESP awards. Further details on the certification and payment processing functionalities will be provided on this page as they become available.

2022-23

Payment

Fall Term Payment Processing

As announced in a December 8 e-Message, starting in mid-December 2022 NESP recipients were able to access their Grant Agreement/Promissory Notes for signature through the Program Applications & Status Checks area of the ISAC Student Portal. Students are encouraged to sign and submit the Grant Agreement/Promissory Note online for timely processing. Once ISAC is in receipt of the signed agreement, a payment claim voucher is issued to the school. For institutions with a small number of recipients, this is done on a rolling basis as agreements are received. For institutions that have a larger number of students, payment claims are batched for ease of review and processing. Following the receipt of payment claims, disbursements to schools follow the same process as in past years, with funds payable by the State Comptroller's office. Checks for scholarship funds will continue to be co-payable to the school and the recipient; stipend payments are remitted directly to recipients.

Fall term disbursements began to take place in January 2023.

Spring Term Payment Processing

Once available, payment processing for the spring 2023 term will take place via the ISAC Gift Assistance Programs (GAP) Access portal. The certification and payment processing functionalities will be launched in phases later this spring, with certification opening in mid-March and payment processing anticipated for April. Further details will be provided as they are finalized.

Application

The 2022-23 application for this program is no longer being accepted.

Applicants received notification of their eligibility status from IDPH. Recipients should refer to the awarding statement received from IDPH for award details, including the award amount.

Program Funding

The 2023 fiscal year (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023) appropriation for the Nursing Education Scholarship Program (NESP) is $400,000,000.