On October 1, 2026, Jonas Nursing and AACN named 80 doctoral nursing students from 30 states as the 2026-2028 Jonas Scholars in Washington, D.C. The cohort includes 59 PhD and 21 DNP candidates across 57 schools, with nearly $1 million in support, according to the Jonas Nursing and AACN announcement.
For DNP and BSN-to-DNP students, DNP eligibility is confirmed, but the 2026 call has closed. Each scholar gets $12,000 from Jonas Nursing plus a required school match; scholars who accept faculty positions can receive an additional $6,000. The deciding constraint is nomination: schools select candidates. Early faculty relationships and a clear teaching goal are the strongest levers for the next cycle.
What a Jonas Scholarship Pays For: $12,000, a School Match and a $6,000 Faculty Award
The two-year base award
The 2026-2028 Jonas Scholars program provides $12,000 from Jonas Nursing per scholar, paired with a matching contribution from the scholar's school, across the two-year doctoral program. Together these funds are intended to offset costs while the scholar completes PhD or DNP coursework, research, and practice hours. Public materials confirm the school match is required for the main scholarship and set it at $12,000, paid as $3,000 per semester across four semesters; they do not specify restrictions on allowable uses.
The $6,000 faculty award
After completing the two-year program, scholars who accept a full-time teaching position at an accredited university may receive an additional $6,000. According to AACN's application page, the award is paid directly to the scholar and does not require matching funding from the hiring university. The stated condition is at least one year of faculty service after graduation, although the announcement describes it more broadly as accepting a faculty position. For the 2026-2028 cohort, eligible scholars would receive that award in 2029.
This two-part structure ties directly to the program's purpose: building the Nurse Faculty Fellowship pipeline.
Can DNP and BSN-To-DNP Students Be Nominated for Jonas Scholars?
Twenty-one of the 80 Jonas Scholars announced for 2026-2028 are DNP candidates, so doctoral nursing students in DNP programs can be nominated. The published criteria for this cycle list PhD, EdD, and DNP as eligible degree paths, and they do not exclude BSN-to-DNP students. The official scholar roster for the cohort includes BS to DNP students, including at the University of San Francisco and the University of Minnesota.
What the published criteria require
Eligibility centered on being enrolled full time in a nursing doctoral program and having an anticipated graduation between May 2028 and December 2028, leaving roughly 24 to 30 months remaining. Students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and be early-to-mid career, with DNP candidates expected to commit to a clinical faculty role.
Part-time enrollment is not eligible for 2026-2028. Fully online enrollment is not stated as a disqualifier, but the criteria do not confirm that every fully online student qualifies; online students must still meet full-time and graduation-window requirements.
What to confirm with your program director
Published materials do not list AACN membership as an institutional eligibility requirement. The school must be a nonprofit 501(c)(3) or partner organization, accredited by a U.S. Department of Education-recognized nursing accreditor, and offer a research-focused PhD in nursing and/or a DNP. Each school could nominate a maximum of two students.
Because the 2026-2028 call has closed, students should treat any unanswered eligibility question as unconfirmed and ask their graduate program director about the next cycle.
How Nomination Works: Schools Nominate, Students Do Not Apply Directly
Jonas Scholars are not selected through a direct student application. The school identifies and nominates candidates.
- 1. Verify eligibility and internal selectionThe school completes an internal selection process and may nominate up to two students per cycle.
- 2. School submits nominee materialsFor each nominee, the school provides a brief bio (degrees, employment, motivation to become faculty, hoped impact, PhD/DNP focus), a CV, and documentation of the $12,000 funding match.
- 3. National reviewAACN and Jonas Nursing review the school-submitted materials against eligibility and selection criteria.
- 4. Cohort announcementSelected doctoral students are announced as Jonas Scholars; the 2026–2028 call closed June 26, 2026.
- Timing patternThe 2024–2026 cycle opened April 8 and closed May 17, 2024; the 2026–2028 cycle closed June 26. Based on that pattern, the next cycle may open in spring and close in late spring or early summer, but no next-cycle date has been announced.
The Mentorship and Leadership Model: Four Pillars, 10 Mentors, One Spring 2026 Conference
What does the 2026-2028 Jonas Scholars mentorship experience actually include?
The 2024 enhanced model organized the program around four pillars: The Power of Mentoring, leadership development, policy, and teaching. For the 2026-2028 cohort, 10 Jonas Mentors, all nurse educators, carry out those pillars by meeting monthly with their assigned scholars and joining them at the Jonas Scholar Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., in spring 2027. Because every mentor is an active nurse educator, the guidance connects directly to faculty work, including nurse scientist roles. The two-year schedule means monthly meetings continue across both years, giving each scholar repeated contact with a mentor while building a national peer network. The four pillars are not siloed; the conference and mentor meetings are designed to weave together policy, teaching, leadership, and mentoring. That integrated approach reflects the program's faculty-focused purpose.
The structure sits on a substantial record: since 2006, Jonas Nursing has invested more than $28 million in over 1,400 nurse scholars across all 50 states. In January 2026, Jonas Philanthropies added a Jonas Nursing Social Justice Scholar designation to this cohort, bringing an equity focus into the four-pillar framework.
How Schools Announce Scholars and How the Match Varies, Including Arizona's $24,000 Total
A national cohort announcement and a campus news release tell two different stories. The national list names scholars; a campus release often reveals the real dollar figure a nominee receives.
Public announcements spotlight the match
University of Arizona, for example, publicized two PhD nursing students in the 2026-2028 cohort with $12,000 from Jonas Nursing and a $12,000 university match, a $24,000 total over two years. That is the standard per-scholar structure this cycle. Match payments are not a lump sum. Program guidance describes $3,000 per semester across four semesters, with Jonas Nursing sending its share in two $6,000 installments, and no partial scholarships allowed. Some institutions may announce a different total in earlier cycles, but the 2026-2028 Arizona figure is $24,000 per scholar.1
Ask your school about disbursement
Beyond the total, allowable use and exact disbursement timing are generally not spelled out in campus announcements. A school may apply funds to tuition first or distribute them to the student on an academic calendar. Nominees should ask their college's financial aid or graduate office how the $12,000 match will be scheduled and whether the optional $6,000 faculty-service award, paid in 2029, affects their current financial aid packaging.
What the Cohort Means for DNP Programs and the Nurse Faculty Pipeline
How can DNP program directors turn a Jonas Scholars nomination into a long-term faculty pipeline? The 2026-2028 cohort offers a concrete answer. Of 80 doctoral students selected, 21 are DNP candidates, a clear sign that practice-focused doctorates are being intentionally developed as future educators. That matters because DNP-prepared nurse faculty bring current bedside context into prelicensure classrooms.
The $6,000 faculty incentive
The $6,000 award for scholars who accept faculty positions after the two-year program is the most direct recruitment tool. Combined with a required school match, it gives programs a reason to identify strong DNP students early and write nominations that emphasize teaching promise, not just clinical skill.
Three nomination moves for program leaders
Program directors might identify candidates at least one year before they are ready to teach; pair nominees with a faculty mentor outside the selection committee; and create structured teaching experiences such as guest lecturing or clinical precepting before the application window. These are recommendations, not stated Jonas policy, but they align with the program's mentorship and leadership pillars. For DNP-heavy schools, the nomination can also be a recruitment message to prospective doctoral students who want a funded path into nursing education. This is a pipeline signal, not a one-time prize.
Other Doctoral Nursing Funding to Pursue Now, With Deadlines
The Jonas Nursing Scholars call for 2026-2028 has closed, so DNP and PhD students should turn to these federal and foundation options. Since some 2026 deadlines have already passed, always confirm the current cycle and any updated dates on the sponsor's page before preparing materials.
| Program | Who It Is For | Award or Benefit | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse Faculty Loan Program (student support) | Students enrolled in advanced nursing education degree programs, including post-PhD and DNP nursing degree programs, who maintain an acceptable level of academic standing. | Loan support cannot exceed $50,000 per student for any academic year. | July 10, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time |
| NHSC Loan Repayment Program | U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals who are primary care providers, including nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives, with a current, full, permanent, unencumbered, unrestricted license by June 30, 2026. | Up to $75,000 in repayment of qualifying student loans for a two-year service commitment at an NHSC-approved site in a primary-care Health Professional Shortage Area. | March 26, 2026, 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time |
| Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program | Registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, and nursing faculty who commit to two years of service at a health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses or, for nurse faculty, an eligible school of nursing. | Payments totaling 60 percent of the qualifying nursing school loan balance, plus up to an additional 25 percent of the original loan balance for an optional year of service. | March 12, 2026 |
| NurseThink-AACN Scholarship | Students enrolled in master's and doctoral nursing programs at AACN member institutions who want to become future nurse faculty. | $5,000 scholarships awarded twice a year through 2026. | Rolling or variable (verify on sponsor page) |