NEW LONDON — Colby-Sawyer College is introducing 16 full-ride scholarships for nursing students to help address a national workforce shortage.
They will be awarded to eight “talented” students pursuing a bachelor of science in nursing degree starting in fall 2026 and eight in 2027. Students applying for 2026 must already be accepted into the program.
The scholarships will come from a $3 million fund donated by alumna Heidi Grey Niblack and husband John Niblack, according to a news release from the college. The goal of the donation is to help address a nationwide nursing shortage that is especially acute in rural areas.
“The scholarships we are creating are intended to help in mitigating this crisis, by increasing the supply of well-trained women and men with a bachelor of science in nursing,” donor John Niblack said in the news release.
There are currently 162 students enrolled in Colby-Sawyer’s bachelor of science in nursing program, Peter White, dean of Colby-Sawyer’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences, said Wednesday.
In 2025, there was a 17% vacancy rate for registered nurses and 29% vacancy for certified and licensed nurse assistants in New Hampshire, according to a report from the New Hampshire Hospital Association.
“These vacancies impact hospitals’ ability to care for patients and keep beds staffed,” according to the report. “And it dramatically increases the cost of providing care as hospitals must turn to more expensive temporary staff to care for patients.”
In Vermont, the number of registered nurses leaving the job in the state has decreased over the past several years but the need for nurses has continued to rise, according to a 2024 report from the Vermont Business Roundtable Research and Education Foundation. Vermont was projected to need 2,400 registered nurses to fill new and replacement positions to meet demand through 2026.
Students in Colby-Sawyer’s nursing program train at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon and the hospital “consistently offers employment to 100% of the college’s graduating nurses,” according to the news release.
“There are encouraging signs that interest in nursing is again growing among prospective students,” Susan Reeves, chief nurse executive at Dartmouth Health, said in the news release. “Thus, the elimination of barriers to high-quality nursing education, as will be the case with the Niblack Nursing Scholars program, will assure the best and brightest have opportunities to pursue the profession.”
DH currently has 251 open nursing positions across the health system as well as more than 300 open allied health positions, and more than 30 openings for licensed nursing assistants and medical assistants, according to its career website.
Colby-Sawyer and DH have partnered on several initiatives to address health care workforce challenges in the past few years.
In 2024, the college opened the new Center for Health Sciences, an academic and clinical training site for its health programs. The college has also introduced new programs including a master of science in nursing, a master’s degree in social work and a doctor of nursing practice degree.
Applications for the Niblack scholarship for 2026 are due March 1.