The Virginia Department of Health recently announced the first recipients of $4.5 million in Earn to Learn grants to address workforce shortages for nurses.
The Earn to Learn Nursing Education Acceleration Program aims to transform nurse clinical education to accelerate the development of practice-ready nurse graduates.
“The Earn to Learn program is a win all around for nursing students, schools, hospitals and communities,” said Karen Shelton, MD, state health commissioner. “Nursing students will be able to earn a stipend while completing classes and clinical training. The program has academic and hospital partners across the state, ensuring opportunities are spread across Virginia.
“For communities, more nursing graduates means more nurses to take care of patients in doctor’s offices, hospitals, urgent care centers, clinics, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other settings.”
The program follows an apprenticeship model that promotes collaboration between nursing schools and hospitals providing hands-on clinical experience and compensation to nurses in training.
The Earn to Learn program was included in the adopted 2024 state budget. In establishing the program, the General Assembly directed VDH to utilize $5 million of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act to establish the program. In 2025 and 2026, $4 million in general funds was appropriated to the program.
Goals of Earn to Learn program
- increasing the number of nursing students in Virginia’s nursing programs,
- creating more employment opportunities for nursing students so that they are more likely to secure jobs upon completion of their training, and
- producing more practice-ready Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses thus enhancing RN and LPN retention in the Commonwealth.
Students participating in the program will be placed at partner clinical sites to receive paid, hands-on training and mentorship that complements their academic studies. This pay enables students to earn a wage comparable to their current level of practice while training to obtain a higher certification level.
Education institutions receiving grants
- Paul D. Camp Community College, Franklin: $500,000.0
- Rappahannock Community College, Warsaw: $301,596.74
- Germanna Community College, Locust Grove: $500,000.00
- Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale: $213,180.00
- Marymount University, Arlington: $500,000.00
- New River Community College, Dublin: $358,911.00
- Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke: $439,521.22
- James Madison University, Harrisonburg: $372,749.00
- Blue Ridge Community College, Weyers Cave: $374,967.00
- Southside Community College, Alberta: $367,994.53
- Galen College of Nursing – Richmond, Richmond: $470,819.0
- Laurel Ridge Community College, Middletown: $500,000.00
- Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond: $493,964.00
Award expectations
- provide coordinated educational training, paid clinical experience, and mentorship for RN and/or LPN students,
- routinely collect data on participant skill acquisition and post-graduation employment readiness, employer satisfaction, nursing shortages among clinical sites, increased RN and/or LNP enrollments at participating schools, and
- participate in technical assistance/ cohort activities hosted by VDH.
The grant was open to educational institutions or organizations that offer Virginia Board of Nursing-approved nursing education programs for pre-licensure Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses.
For more information about the Earn to Learn program, visit the VDH Earn to Learn website.
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Crystal Graham
