Aurora Scholarships For Nursing Education

Though states are making cuts to education across the board, the John C. Dunham Trust is doing its part to help keep the Aurora area well-funded. Though the majority of the grants awarded to philanthropic organizations by the Dunham Trust are given to safe houses and halfway homes, the group recently began awarding scholarships to nursing students as well.

The John C. Dunham Trust was founded in 1996 and founded in 2007 according to Dunham's wishes. The Dunham Trust is designed to increase the quality of life in Illinois and particularly in Aurora. In order to achieve this goal, the Dunham trustees have focused on assisting organizations and charities that improve health and health care, helping Dunham's desire to "make the world a more comfortable, safer place for mankind to live and prosper" come to fruition.

This nursing scholarship, known as the Dunham Nursing Scholarship, is awarded to nursing students in the Aurora area, and is aimed towards offsetting the cost of education for nurses of all levels of education, from undergraduate to post graduate. The Dunham trust has already helped dozens of students pursue higher education, with $210,000 in scholarships awarded to college students from Aurora.

The Dunham Trust group has joined with health care professionals in Illinois, the Kane County Health Department, the Rush Copley Foundation, Aurora University and Dreyer Medical Clinic among other groups in order to fund the $750,000 program. The Dunham Trust hopes that by helping to pay for education, nurses from the Aurora Area will be given the resources to pursue higher education and will be able to support a high-performing nursing staff in its health care facility.

The scholarship program, which awards almost a million dollars in scholarships, is distributed to at least 40 students every year between July 2009 and June 2011, assisting approximately 120 students enrolled in nursing programs during its years in service. This scholarship program, in unison with President Obama's health care reforms and stimulus bills, will make it easier than ever for aspiring nurses to fund their education.

Those awarded scholarships will have aid determined by their location. Students at Waubonsee will see 90% tuition coverage, and students at Aurora will be covered for 75% of their tuition costs after acceptance. Applicants must have lived in the Aurora Area before they will be considered, and can apply beginning on October 1. The scholarship will be awarded to applicants based on members of a review board composed of representatives of the groups funding the scholarship.

After receiving the scholarship funds, applicants will be obligated to work with their funding organizations on a number of community service projects based in their field of experience. At graduation, the now-accredited nurses are contracted to work in Aurora for at least two years.

Scholarships from the John C. Dunham Trust are awarded most often to students from DuPage, Kane and Kendall counties in Illinois. This area, between Illinois State Routes 38, 59 and 47 and US Route 34, is known as the 'Aurora Area.' Applicants from other areas may be considered, but Aurora applicants are given preferential consideration.