Pharmacy Students: Scholarships and Loan Repayment Strategies

Consider this: the Baby Boomer population is THE fastest growing segment of the U.S. Much has been made of this in terms of the worsening nursing crisis and Healthcare Reform, but can you begin to imagine how an expanding aging population could also wreak havoc with the pharmacy industry?

Pharmacy professionals are not just needed in community pharmacies—though that particular segment is going gang-busters. But pharmacists are in dire need everywhere: academics, research, military, institution, and hospital and clinic settings.

Since the industry is hungry for new pharmacy blood you better believe there’s some scholarship money to be had…..Here are the best sources for tapping this vein of rich funding.

Scholarships from State Governments

Every state has a row to hoe with trussing up its healthcare system, inhouse. Despite the fact that the national healthcare is in shambles many states are in the same boat. The only way many of them have a prayer for creating a self-sustaining delivery system is by attracting and retaining new blood—new primary caregivers and critical professionals like pharmacists.

When you complete the FAFSA you are eligible to apply for any scholarships your state offers that could apply to you.

Common and popular are the Scholarship-for-service programs that seek to attract healthcare practitioners and pharmacy professionals to underserved medical facilities or to rural and remote communities:

  • Minnesota’s Rural Pharmacist program is administered by the Office of Rural Health and aimed squarely at pharmacy professionals willing to exchange service in a rural community for student loan repayment. Qualified candidates may receive up to $16,000 for every year they commit to rural service, up to a 4-year max.

Scholarships from Colleges and Universities

No-brainer, here—you MUST deeply explore the scholarships your school provides. Guaranteed there are at least 2 or 3 that you could seriously compete for and one of them could be a Pharmacy scholarship.

Here are a few examples of the hundreds out there:

  • The College of Pharmacy at the University of Minnesota offers—outside of the U’s main academic scholarships—a handful of excellent free aid opportunities. Pharmacy students can compete for undergraduate awards, graduate money as well as scholarship for service cash. Awards here range from a few hundred dollars to $20,000!
  • The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque offers its College of Pharmacy students the chance to apply for the New Mexico Loan Repayment program, a loan for service program that helps put pharmacists and other healthcare professionals into underserved rural areas.

Private and Professional Sources

Professional and private sources with a connection to the role of pharmacists, advocate for pharmacists, and those that employ and otherwise support the work of pharmacists, are all potential sources for scholarship money.

  • The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation offers the following scholarship: Pharmacy Student Scholarship Program. The organization awards over 45-$2,000 scholarships to eligible pharmacy school students pursuing a pathway in the chain community pharmacy sector.