By Anna Galaktionov
Barry’s School of Nursing was named one of the beneficiaries of a $79 million grant awarded to a few top nursing schools in the state of Florida in January 2023.
The funds from the grant will be used to create matching money scholarship opportunities and provide resources for nursing students at Barry University and other Florida nursing schools. These scholarships will make nursing school a possibility for many low-income Floridians.
The grant will also assist financially in faculty recruitment and the acquiring of equipment.
Governor DeSantis signed off on the grant with a goal to make Florida the number one state for workforce education by 2030. Since 2019, Governor Desantis has been awarding many grants to workforce education funding, such as in the field of nursing, to support Florida students seeking to start new careers and to universities that have proved themselves with high-performing standards.
“I am grateful to the colleges and universities who have gone above and beyond to train the next generation of nurses in our state,” said Governor DeSantis.
Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said a grant like this one ensures “that Florida’s future nursing workforce is filled with highly trained and dedicated professionals.”
Barry University was one of the beneficiaries of the grant because of its meticulous and first-class expectations of its nursing students.
Barry students, like freshman nursing major Breindy Wolff, appreciate the top-notch standards of the School of Nursing.
“I only have good things to say about Barry Nursing. The program and faculty have been so helpful and want students to succeed,” said Wolff.
However, Barry nursing students like Wolff share the concern of being able to pay for their education.
“The grant sounds really promising. It would be amazing if they could lower tuition and make nursing school more easily available. I almost pulled out last minute, and I know some classmates of mine are in the same boat,” she said.
Barry’s nursing students are waiting in hopes that the grant will provide the financial assistance needed to study in the program.
The grant was made possible by the Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) and Prepping Institutions, Programs, Employers, and Learners through Incentives for Nursing Education (PIPELINE) programs. These organizations were initiated due to Florida’s shortage of nursing programs. Both provide monetary support to high-performing nursing schools.
Barry University has not yet released information on how the grant funds will be dispersed to the nursing students, but The Buccaneer will report any updates as they come in.