GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA — Gwynedd Mercy University has received a $1.75 million endowed gift to establish a full scholarship for undergraduate nursing students, creating a permanent funding source that will cover college costs for successive recipients as the nursing workforce faces persistent shortages.
The Sisters of Mercy Legacy Nursing Scholarship will cover education, room and board and provide a stipend for one Bachelor of Science in Nursing student at a time. A new recipient will be selected every four years, allowing the endowment to support nursing students in perpetuity.
Victor and Tara Menezes, a 1972 Gwynedd Mercy graduate, funded the scholarship in honor of Sister Mary Thomasina and Sister Virginia Mary.
“It gives me enormous pleasure to endow this scholarship in honor of Sisters Mary Thomasina and Virginia Mary — two inspirational women who were filled with great kindness, compassion and joy,” Tara Menezes said.
The scholarship removes tuition and living expenses for a qualifying student pursuing a four-year nursing degree, linking the university’s financial-aid resources to demand for new nurses in Pennsylvania and nationally.
Applicants must be admitted to Gwynedd Mercy’s BSN program, demonstrate financial need through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and enter with an unweighted high school GPA of at least 3.5. They must also plan to live on campus throughout the four-year program.
Recipients must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA, remain enrolled full time and continue living on campus to retain the scholarship. The selected student will hold the title of Sisters of Mercy Legacy Nursing Scholar.
“This scholarship creates an extraordinary opportunity for a student to pursue a calling in nursing,” said Jane H. Tang, dean of the Frances M. Maguire College of Nursing and Health Professions.
The endowed scholarship is the university’s first to fully fund an undergraduate nursing student’s education, room, board and stipend.
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