Grant Initiatives

Faculty Scholars Grant Program

In May 2020, the foundation announced the AACN Faculty Scholars Grant Program.  This program provides funding support to nurse educators whose scholarly activities reflect current issues in nursing education or practice and support AACN’s strategic priorities.  Through this initiative, a total of $100,000 in funding has been distributed to support four $25,000 faculty scholarship projects through 2022. Funding for this program was provided by more than 150 nursing schools and organizations that contributed to AACN’s 50th Anniversary Celebration program.

View 2020-2021 Grantees


Additional AACN-Grant Funded Initiatives

Accelerating the Adoption of Competency-Based Education

Through the Reimagining Nursing Initiative, the American Nurses Foundation award $1.5 million to AACN for a three-year project: Competency-Based Education for Practice-Ready Nurse Graduates. AACN will award $100,000 to 10 schools of nursing to pilot curriculum to meet the expectations delineated in the AACN Essentials.

Enhancing the Leadership and Resilience Skills of Nursing Students

Johnson & Johnson awarded $324,115 to AACN to support A Competency-Based Approach to Leadership Development and Resilience for Student Nurses. As part of this initiative, AACN will award $10,000 to 10 schools of nursing to pilot curriculum aligned with the AACN Essentials.

Creating Inclusive Learning Environments at Schools of Nursing

With $174,900 in funding from Johnson & Johnson, AACN launched the Building a Culture of Belonging in Academic Nursing project to identify strategies for creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive academic environments that facilitate the success of all students.

Combatting Vaccine Hesitancy

AACN was awarded $1 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initiate Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Among Nurses and in Communities. Through this effort, AACN awarded funding to 10 schools to launch targeted campaigns to encourage COVID-19 vaccination and increase confidence in communicating accurate vaccine information.

Preparing Doctoral-Prepared Faculty, Researchers, and Advanced Clinicians

Since 2012, AACN has collaborated with the Jonas Philanthropies to expand the number of doctoral prepared faculty and clinicians. The Jonas Scholars initiative has provided financial support and leadership development to more than 1,000 Scholars in all 50 states.

Strengthening Biomedical Research to Advance Precision Medicine

Since 2017, AACN and the National Institutes of Health have promoted the All of Us Research Program, which seeks greater representation of diverse communities in biomedical research. To date, AACN has awarded $400,000 to 48 nursing schools to bring awareness to this program.

Funding Innovations in Public/Population Health

Since 2014, AACN has partnered with the CDC to support the development of nurse researchers and scholars who are leading innovative projects focused on priority Public/Population Health concerns. To date, 11 AACN-CDC Public Health Nursing Fellows have received support.

Supporting Graduate Nursing Student Scholarship

Since 2017, AACN has partnered with the National Institute on Drug Abuse on the NIDA Blending Initiative: Moving Science from Research to Practice to advance research, dissemination, and adoption of evidence-based projects focused on Substance Use Disorders treatment practices. To date, $80,000 in funding has been disbursed to 8 nursing students.

Grantee Spotlight

Enhancing Laboratory Infrastructure to Support At-Risk and ESL Students

Kristen Munyan

Kristen Munyan, DNP, RN
Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Program Director
Oakland University 

Dr. Munyan is an Assistant Professor and the Undergraduate Program Director at Oakland University School of Nursing in Rochester, Michigan. Her research focus has involved identifying and addressing health disparities in foundational nursing assessments and interventions with specific interest in the utility of technology to address these needs. 

Read more

Contribute to the Foundation

The Foundation for Academic Nursing is currently seeking support from philanthropies, corporate donors, and individuals looking to advance AACN’s goals and priorities. Your support will help to expand our impact and usher in new innovations in nursing education and practice. For more information, please contact foundation@aacnnursing.org.

Make a Donation