Spalding University has been awarded three of 99 federal Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students, totalling more than $5 million.
The grants, awarded by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are designed to assist economically disadvantaged students by reducing the barrier of high tuition costs, according to a news release from Spalding.
Students receive scholarships that cover at least half of the cost of tuition, with a cap of $15,000 per student per award year. The total of funds awarded to Spalding will be $5.4 million, disbursed during a four-year period.
According to the release, the funding aims to increase diversity in the health professions by providing grants to schools for use in awarding scholarships to financially needy students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Spalding University has always been a leader in serving populations who might otherwise have gone underserved by higher education,” said Dr. Laura Strickland, chair of the Auerbach School of Occupational Therapy at Spalding. The university, she said, is “committed to serving students whose potential for success and drive to grow through education may be greater than their academic preparation or economic ability.”
