College of Health Professions receives funds for student scholarships

AASU's College of Health Professions received a $497,000 grant from Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to fund scholarships for students.

Donna Brooks, assistant dean of the College of Health Professions, is responsible for AASU obtaining the grant.

"This is the first college-wide [College of Health Professions] grant of this nature," Brooks said.

The grant enables the College of Health Professions to award scholarships to students pursuing undergraduate degrees in communication sciences and disorders, medical technology, nursing and radiological sciences. Scholarships are also available to students pursing graduate degrees in communication sciences and disorders, health administration and public health.

HRSA offers grants each year with an emphasis on increasing diversity in the healthcare field.

Hassan Aziz, head of the Department of Medical Technology said that in the past, students going into careers in health professions were eligible for a service cancelable loan given by the state. That meant if students went into a certain healthcare profession, their loans would be forgiven.

When the state began cutting from the education budget, they stopped offering the service cancelable loans. Aziz said these scholarships can take the place of the service cancelable loans.

The scholarships are awarded to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Brooks said they look at not only economic needs but also whether students come from areas where academic performance is poor.

Not only will the scholarships help qualified students with tuition costs, they will also help students pay for books and living expenses.

Aziz said the health profession programs are academically rigorous.

"I discourage students from working while in the program, because that will affect their grades," he said.

Aziz said he and other faculty members understand that many AASU students have families or other financial responsibilities.

"These scholarships will benefit students across the College of Health Professions and are not limited to a single department," said Shelley Conroy, dean of the College of Health Professions. "In addition, they will provide support for students both in undergraduate and graduate programs and allow them to focus on their academics and graduation requirements."If a student is awarded a scholarship, the funds are retroactive to the beginning of the semester and the scholarship lasts for one academic year.

"We will continue to give the money out until there is no more," Brooks said.

Brooks will verify that students meet the HRSA requirements for being from disadvantaged backgrounds. After she establishes that the students are eligible for scholarships, the applications are given to the university's financial aid office. They will then determine the amount of money that the student will be awarded in their scholarship based on federal guidelines.

Interested students can download the scholarship application at the grants section of AASU's Financial Aid website under the link entitled "Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students for Selected Health Profession Programs."

The completed application should be turned into Donna Brooks in Ashmore Hall, Room 102.