Nurses For Our Future FAQS

If a NFOF recipient receives other financial aid, such as Pell, will the NFOF scholarship be applied towards tuition and the Pell award refunded if applicable? Can the scholarship be applied first so the difference in the Pell grant can be refunded to the student?

The NFOF award should be applied to the recipient’s tuition prior to other State or federal tuition awards. This will enable students to both (i) apply their Pell grant to other costs of attendance and (ii) retain their TAP eligibility should they continue their education beyond their two-year nursing program.

Should the NFOF award only be disbursed once the passing grade is confirmed?

Yes. Schools should consider both the number of courses attempted and the number of courses passed when disbursing payment of the NFOF award. If a student is attending full-time and fails a class, but maintains a full-time status, full payment should be disbursed. If a student is attending part-time or falls below full-time status, the payment should be prorated based on the number of credits earned.

What if the student fails a class?

Full-time students who fail a class but retain their full-time status during the semester should receive the full payment. Students enrolled part-time who fail a class should not get paid for the failed class(es). Payments cannot exceed 4 full- time payments.

Is part-time status defined as enrolled in any number of credits, as low as one credit, or is there a minimum number of credits?

NFOF recipients must complete their Associate Degree in Nursing within 5 years of initial enrollment if attending part-time and within 3 years if attending full-time or forfeit the remainder of their award. NFOF recipients must complete their Bachelor of Science in Nursing within 10 years of initial enrollment if attending part-time and within 5 years if attending full-time or forfeit the remainder of their award. If the NFOF recipient’s nursing program allows them to enroll in as few as one credit, there is no prohibition in providing a pro-rated payment for the student provided they remain in the prescribed window of eligibility.

Should NFOF recipients meet the ATB requirement?

NFOF recipients must be accepted into a nursing program and pursuing an Associate Degree in Nursing or Bachelor of Science in Nursing to be eligible for payment of the award. As such, the recipient must have met all requirements to be accepted into the nursing program, including having earned a high school diploma, high school equivalency diploma or successfully passed an approved ATB test.

How are the funds being distributed to schools?

Funds for the NFOF Scholarship will be reimbursed by the New York State Department of Labor (DOL). Colleges must complete a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DOL so that funds can be transmitted to your institution. Additional correspondence will be forthcoming regarding the MOU process.

What does the step out process entail and who handles as defined in the prize agreement? Referring to the below from the agreement

In accordance with the NFOF Prize Agreement:

“Students must independently meet all requirements for admission and continued attendance at an institution, including but not limited to all academic performance requirements, degree program requirements, health requirements, and student conduct policies.” “Step-out” will be available in certain circumstances as governed by the prize agreement.

If your institution’s nursing degree program requires that students be continuously enrolled to remain in the nursing degree program, the NFOF recipient must abide by such continuous attendance requirements to retain eligibility for payment of the NFOF Scholarship. If continued attendance is not required by your institution, recipients will be subject to the allowable “step out” conditions that generally apply to NYS financial aid awards, including medical, death of a family member, or temporary disability.

Certification

Are we required to certify NFOF students on the View/Update NFOF page on HESC?

No. Certification via HESC systems is not required for an NFOF recipient; however, schools must update the recipient’s enrollment status in the NFOF database so that HESC can monitor each recipient for compliance upon completion of their degree. Further reporting requirements may be requested.

Must certification be completed after the end of each semester to determine GPA, grades, graduation date etc?

No. A college does not need to certify the NFOF Scholarship utilizing HESC’s certification systems; however, a recipient’s enrollment status must be entered into the NFOF Database located in HESC web processing under ‘View/Update NFOF Student Enrollment Status’ so that HESC can monitor each recipient for compliance upon completion of their degree.

Since the Nursing scholarship cannot exceed tuition, does duplicative benefits rules apply to NFOF awards? If so, Are the award amounts determined by the campus? How do we report NFOF amounts in certification?

The NFOF Scholarship should be applied first if the recipient is receiving other tuition- or cost-of-attendance awards, such as TAP or Pell. This will allow a student to utilize their Pell grant for other college costs and/or retain their TAP eligibility should the recipient pursue a bachelor’s degree at a later time or lose their NFOF eligibility.

NFOF awards are not subject to the certification requirements used for statutorily authorized programs.

Eligibility

The signed agreement requirement is not indicated on the Nursing Scholarship program rules website. Can this be added to further specify the requirements?

The requirement that the recipient have a signed agreement is located under the “prize section” of the website and states as follows:

“Winners will be required to enter into a prize agreement governing the terms and conditions of acceptance of the “Nurses For Our Future” Scholarship.”

Students who have not signed their prize agreement are no longer eligible to receive their award. Therefore, only students who have signed their prize agreement will appear in NFOF Database on HESCWeb. The 3 prize agreement templates (ASN, BSN in state and BSN out of state) are available in the NFOF portal for your reference to the rules and guidelines.

Should we award and/or certify a student if the agreement or other HESC documents have not been provided?

Students who did not have signed prize agreements by January 31, 2023, are no longer eligible to receive their NFOF prize. Anyone who failed to sign their prize agreement by the deadline has been removed from the database.

Are there GPA and/or P&P requirements? Must the GPA requirement be met before the start of the term or afterward?

Students must meet and maintain the college’s academic standards and qualifications for the nursing program in which they are enrolled to receive payment of an award.

How should eligibility be determined for W flavor grades for various stages of withdrawing from a course (ie. WN, WD, WU, W etc.)?

Full-time students who withdraw from a class but retain their full-time status during the semester should receive their full payment. Full-time students who fall below full-time status due to one or more withdrawn classes should have their payment prorated based on the number of credits earned. Students enrolled part-time who withdraw from a class should not get paid for the withdrawn class(es).

What is considered matriculated Nursing program?

A NFOF recipient must be accepted and enrolled in a nursing program leading to an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in nursing to be eligible for payment of their NFOF Scholarship.

Does matriculation include students in undeclared nursing programs? (i.e., Liberal Arts major pursing Nursing program)

To receive payment of the NFOF Scholarship, students must be matriculated and enrolled in a nursing degree program. If a student takes prerequisite courses while awaiting acceptance into the nursing program AND those courses are later applied to their nursing degree, the student should be reimbursed for those courses once they are accepted into the nursing program.

If courses taken while awaiting acceptance into the nursing program are not applied to the student’s nursing degree, the NFOF recipient would not be eligible to be reimbursed for the courses that did not get applied toward their nursing degree program. Such students may utilize any eligible federal or other state award payments during any term they are not yet enrolled in a nursing program.

Do students have to currently be enrolled in a Nursing Program for Fall 22'?

NFOF recipients must enroll within the established deadlines based on the degree type and whether they were a NYS resident at the time they applied for the scholarship as follows:

Students pursuing an Associate Degree in Nursing must begin study no later than spring 2023
Students who were NYS residents at the time they applied for the scholarship AND pursuing a BSN must begin study no later than fall 2023
Students who were not NYS residents at the time they applied for the scholarship AND pursuing a BSN must begin study no later than spring 2024

Exceptions can be made for students who could not enroll due to program availability. Recipients approved for extensions are noted in the NFOF database in the notes section of the recipient student’s information. Students may request an extension by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Are only new students eligible or are students who were currently enrolled in a Nursing program prior to be awarded the scholarship eligible?

An NFOF recipient who was enrolled in a nursing program in pursuit of an Associate Degree in Nursing at the time they received the Scholarship is eligible to receive payment of the award beginning with the fall 2022 semester through the completion of their Associate degree.

An NFOF recipient who was enrolled in a nursing program in pursuit of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing must have been licensed and working as a licensed nurse at the time they received the Scholarship to be eligible for the award. A licensed nurse who was pursuing a BSN while working is eligible to receive payment of the award beginning with the fall 2022 semester through the completion of their bachelor’s degree. An NFOF recipient cannot be reimbursed for any attendance prior to Fall 2022.

How many years does a student seeking an ADN have to complete their degree? What about students seeking their BSN

An NFOF recipient who is pursuing an ADN must complete their ADN within 5 years of initial enrollment if attending part-time and within 3 years if attending full-time or forfeit the remainder of their award.

An NFOF recipient who is pursuing a BSN must complete their BSN within 10 years of initial enrollment if attending part-time and within 5 years if attending full-time or forfeit the remainder of their award.

What date is determined for FT/PT enrollment (i.e., add/drop period)? If enrolled for session 2 (but not session 1), does enrollment follow NYS regulations?

Full-time or Part-time enrollment follows your school’s guidelines for full tuition liability.

Are students pursuing a second BA/BS eligible for NFOF?

The NFOF Scholarship cannot be used to obtain a second bachelor’s degree; however, an NFOF Scholarship winner with an Associate Degree in Nursing may use the NFOF Scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

How are we expected to defer tuition? By disbursing NFOF item type to students account or wait until after certification?

NFOF recipients identified in the NFOF database must have their tuition deferred if enrolled as a matriculated student in a nursing program at your institution. More details will be provided about the process for requesting the payment of the NFOF funds from the NYS Department of Labor.

If a student transfers to another school without receiving a Nursing degree, will they maintain eligibility?

A student who transfers to a nursing program at another SUNY or CUNY community college will maintain eligibility for payment of the NFOF Scholarship.

Does a student maintain eligibility if they fail/repeat a course(s)?

A student will maintain eligibility if they continue to be enrolled in the nursing program and if they have not exceeded the maximum time allowed for payment of the award (i.e., 5 years for students pursuing an ADN and 10 years for students pursuing a BSN). Students must receive a passing grade to be eligible for an NFOF Scholarship payment; however, there is no prohibition against paying for a repeated course that the recipient failed in a previous term provided the student does not exceed payments equal to two years full-time.

What is the funding stream and how will SUNY and CUNY receive these funds? Will funds be sent directly to campuses? SUNY systemically manages funds with the State operated campuses, but not for community colleges. The process is not in place, given the oversight differences.

Funds will be reimbursed to your campus by the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) as stipulated in an MOU between the campus and DOL. Additional information will be forthcoming regarding the reimbursement process.

Is HESC communicating with and training campuses on the requirements of this scholarship?

HESC will provide guidance on the NFOF Scholarship and will offer a NFOF webinar if colleges would find this beneficial.

SUNY does not administer or process financial aid centrally. Each campus processes financial aid for their respective students. Will campuses be communicating with HESC regarding the amount of NFOF scholarship funds needed per recipient?

Campuses will communicate directly with the NYS Department of Labor to request funding reimbursement for NFOF recipients.

Can students receive a NFOF scholarship payment for the summer and/or winter terms?

Yes. However the number of full-time payments cannot exceed 2 years full time (4 full time payments). Part time payments are pro-rated and will count toward the 4 full time payments.