Colby-Sawyer College has received an infusion of $800,000 in scholarship funding for students in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. 

The college's 16-month ABSN program provides a fast track for people with a bachelor's degree in a field other than nursing who want to become registered nurses. 

The Helene Fuld Health Trust, the country’s largest trust devoted exclusively to student nurses and nursing education, awarded Colby-Sawyer a $550,000 grant. Of that, $110,000 will be used for current scholarships, and $440,000 will establish the Helene Fuld Health Trust Endowed Scholarship Fund for Nursing.  

The value of the gift increased to $800,000 thanks to The Davidow Challenge for Endowed Scholarship, which will contribute $250,000 in matching funds. 

“The Helene Fuld Health Trust has had a remarkable impact on nursing education in the United States, and Colby-Sawyer is grateful for this opportunity to launch the Helene Fuld Scholars program on our campus,” said Dan Parish, vice president for college advancement at Colby-Sawyer.  

“We also sincerely appreciate Bill and Sonja Carlson Davidow ’56, whose generous match will help even more nursing students reach their goals.” 

The fund will support ABSN students who demonstrate academic excellence and financial need with scholarships up to $10,000. Most of the program’s students and graduates live within 25 miles of the college. Many are first-generation students and nearly 70% are from rural communities. Eighty percent are women and 2% are veterans. 

Dr. Dean McCurdy, president of Colby-Sawyer, said the scholarships will make a meaningful difference in the lives of students and propel them toward high-wage, high-demand positions across the region. “The timing for this support is ideal because it complements the new facilities we’ve opened in the past year,” he said. 

Peter White, Ph.D., dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, said the scholarship fund will make it possible for more students to follow their calling of becoming nurses. 

“Our talented faculty and staff, state-of-the-art nursing and health sciences center, and partnership with the world-class Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center allow our graduates to make an immediate and significant impact in healthcare for the state, region and beyond,” he said. 

Colby-Sawyer's next-generation clinical and academic facility is the Janet Udall Schaefer ’52 Center for Health Sciences.

Features include: two fully equipped, 12-bed laboratories; a four-room simulation center for medical/surgical, pediatric, intensive care, and labor and delivery education; a control room and debriefing rooms; and an anatomy and physiology lab with a human-based 3D anatomy and medical education system. 

ABSN students complete their clinical education nearby in Lebanon, at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, the state’s only Level 1 trauma center. Colby-Sawyer and Dartmouth Health have a dynamic, longstanding partnership, and Dartmouth Health consistently offers employment to 100% of the college’s graduating nurses. 

Joan G. Loftus, DNP, RN, the director and chair of nursing at Colby-Sawyer, said the scholarships will also address the nursing shortage that affects every state in the country. 

“The Helene Fuld Scholars program will allow Colby-Sawyer to expand student capacity in our ABSN program,” she said. “In turn, that will help replenish our region’s growing need for registered nurses and ensure a strong nursing workforce for the future.” 

For more than 40 years, Colby-Sawyer has been a leader in nursing education in the state. The college also offers a Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science completion program, a Bachelor of Science in nursing, a Master of Science in nursing with three tracks — clinical nurse leader, nursing education, and nursing management and executive leadership (as well as a post-master’s certificate program in each track), and a Doctor of Nursing Practice program.