Health Care Scholars United
Are you a current or former health professional? This $3,200 scholarship will help you take your healthcare career to the next level.
Health Care Scholars United
In 2022, the United Health Foundation made a $100 million, 10-year philanthropic commitment to support the health care workforce. Health Care Scholars United provides scholarships to current and future healthcare professionals who want to obtain or grow their clinical skills and credentials. The Foundation’s goal is to support 10,000 scholars by 2033 and ultimately help improve healthcare access, experiences, and outcomes for all.
About the Scholarship
Applicants must currently hold an active license/certificate to practice in a clinical health career (e.g., as a nurse, physician assistant, clinical psychologist, or clinical social worker), and be enrolled in or planning to enroll in school for the Winter semester beginning January 2026 to complete a degree or certification to advance their current clinical credentials. Applicants will be expected to complete the certification, license, or degree within two years.
Eligibility
Let’s see if you’re eligible:
1. Current or Former Health Professionals Interested in Advancing Clinical Credentials
- If you have an active license or certificate to practice in a clinical health career (e.g., as a nurse, physician assistant, clinical psychologist, or clinical social worker), and you’re enrolled in or planning to attend school to complete a degree or certification to advance your clinical credentials, the United Health Foundation’s Health Care Scholars United program might be for you.
- Certification programs must be through an accredited institution and must run on a standard academic semester calendar. Certification programs must be a minimum of one semester/term in length and applicants must be enrolled at the time awards are disbursed in January 2026.
2. Planned to be an enrolled student in January 2026
- You’re eligible for this scholarship if you plan to enroll in a recognized program in the United States as either a full-time or part-time student, in person or virtual attendance at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, vocational-technical or graduate school beginning January 2026.
3. U.S. Citizens
- For eligibility, students should be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents.
4. Program Completion
- Applicant must be expected to complete the certification, license or degree program within two years of application.
Employees of UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, or an organization acquired by UnitedHealth Group, and their immediate family members are not eligible for this scholarship.
Awards
How are recipients chosen?
To select recipients, the evaluation process considers a wide variety of criteria from the materials you provide. This includes:
- Work experience
- Community service – Your involvement in supporting the health and wellbeing of your community
- Goal statement – Your health career and future goals as a health care provider
- Overcoming a challenge – How you have overcome a challenge to achieve a goal
- Essay – How do you plan to use your background, education, and future career to improve access to quality health care in underserved communities?
When you submit your application, all of these areas will be reviewed as part of the scholarship evaluation process.
Requirements
What information do I need?
See below for a checklist of required information. To complete your application, make sure everything is submitted by September 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM CT.
1. Copy of Certification or License
- The copy of your certification or license can be uploaded as a PDF and should display your name, title of certification/license, and active dates.
2. Short Answer Prompt
- Write a short answer response (approximately 250 words) to three questions, including the following:
- Describe your health care career to date and your future goals as a health care provider.
- Describe a time when you overcame a challenge to achieve a goal. What did you do to eliminate or address this barrier?
- How do you plan to use your background, education, and future career to improve access to health care in underserved communities?
Space is limited; be concise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Selected students will be awarded a one-time scholarship of $3,200.
For this scholarship, up to 650 awards are available.
This is a one-time award. Awards are not renewable, and past recipients may not reapply.
No scholarship deferrals are allowed. If an awardee would like to defer, the scholarship will be forfeited, and the student can reapply in a future application cycle.
This scholarship can be used for tuition, program fees, books, and supplies only. Awards cannot be used for license fees or exams.
The program is open to clinical professionals in many roles: nurses, lab technicians, certified nurse midwives, physician assistants, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, and more.
Some examples of eligible education pathways for this scholarship:
– CNA to LPN
– Nurse Practitioner seeking a psychiatric mental health certification
– Doula seeking a nursing degree
– Social worker seeking a Master of Social Work
– Dental assistant to dental hygienist
– Other upskilling clinical pathways
Physicians who are seeking additional certifications or degrees are not eligible.
Ineligible academic degree programs include, but aren’t limited to:
– Public Health (i.e., MPH)
– Business Administration (i.e., MBA)
Note: if dual degree with another approved program, this may be acceptable after further review and evaluation (e.g., Physician Assistant/ MBA, Doctorate Nurse Practitioner/MBA)
– Epidemiology
– Informatics or Bioinformatics
– Healthcare Administration/Management
– Executive Leadership
– Education (e.g., PhD Nursing Education)
– Cosmetology
– Animal Sciences
– Research
– Information Technology (IT)
Current or active licenses or certifications deemed not eligible include but aren’t limited to:
– CPR Certification (American Red Cross)
– Advanced Life Support (ALS)/ Basic Life Support (BLS)
– Medical Billing
– Public Health
– Medical Education
– Research Certifications
– Information Technology
If you think you may be eligible but you’re not sure, please contact Scholarship America
Applications must be submitted by September 12, 2025 at 3:00 PM CT. Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
To maintain a fair process, we do not allow extensions or make exceptions for application deadlines.
Once you submit your application, you can’t change it. Please review your application responses carefully to ensure they are complete and accurate.
If your situation changes in a way that affects your application after it has been submitted, please contact Scholarship America.
Please contact Scholarship America for assistance with your application. We are here to help you navigate the process in a way that works for you.
If you’re eligible for this scholarship, financial need is not a factor in the evaluation process.
Recipients are exclusively chosen by Scholarship America following defined evaluation criteria.
Yes, you may apply for this scholarship each time it opens, if you still meet eligibility requirements and did not previously receive the scholarship.
Unfortunately, not every student – even when eligible – can be awarded the scholarship. The good news is Scholarship America might have more scholarships that are a good fit for you.
