CSCU Awards $1 Million in Scholarship Funding to Nursing and Social Work Students in Year One of CT Health Horizons Initiative

Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) announced today that it has awarded more than $1 million in scholarship funding to nursing and social work students at Central, Southern, and Western Connecticut State Universities and Charter Oak State College (COSC) in year one of the CT Health Horizons initiative.

CT Health Horizons, a three-year $35 million initiative, is a partnership between CSCU, the state’s Office of Workforce Strategy (OWS), the University of Connecticut (UConn), the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges (CCIC), multiple state agencies, and the Connecticut Hospital Association. The initiative, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, seeks to address the critical statewide workforce shortage in nursing and social work, by allocating $30.5 million to partner colleges and universities to expand faculty and provide tuition support for students, while creating strategic workforce partnerships.

During year one of the three-year initiative, CSCU awarded more than 200 scholarships, totaling over $1 million, to students enrolled at Central, Southern, and Western Connecticut State Universities and COSC. CSCU has also hired an additional 10 faculty members across the system.

“During year one of the CT Health Horizons initiative, CSCU has stood up new nursing programs and private partnerships at its universities, awarded scholarship funding to more than 200 students, and expanded its faculty rank to train the influx of nursing and social work students,” said CSCU Chancellor Terrence Cheng. “We are excited to continue building on the incredible progress we have made and continue partnering with institutions of higher education, OWS, state agencies, and the Connecticut Hospital Association in further addressing the workforce shortages in the nursing and social work sectors. This partnership is a model that can be replicated for other in-demand sectors such as education and advanced manufacturing.”

“The strong results from the first year of Health Horizons have proven the power of this public-private model. We are providing individuals from underserved communities with the opportunity to pursue good jobs in nursing and social work, while diversifying the field and making significant progress to improving the access and quality of health care in our communities. Importantly, this collaborative model is one that could be applied to address talent needs in other in-demand industries, including manufacturing and IT,” said Chief Workforce Officer Dr. Kelli-Marie Vallieres.

Performance in year one across the entire partnership, includes: 

• Issuance of 591 scholarships, surpassing the initial scholarship goal of 450 or by 131%.
  • 34% of scholarships were issued to Pell eligible students.

• Hiring of an additional 38 faculty members, including:
  • 18 clinical positions

  • 10 classroom positions

  • 8 supports

  • 2 virtual positions

• Creation of eight innovative programs partnering higher education with business and industry to expand partnerships and increase knowledge base on best practices. CT Health Horizons has:
  • Stood up Eastern Connecticut State University’s new nursing program in partnership with Hartford HealthCare.

  • Expanded a master’s level social work program into Eastern.

In addition to CT Health Horizons’ work with Eastern, through the initiative:

• Central Connecticut State University’s Social Work Innovative program will seek to increase students in the social work career tract by working with the state Department of Children and Families, Wheeler Clinic, and the Hartford HealthCare Institute of Living in creating a diverse workforce. Students will be provided with financial support as well as quality supervision, professional development, and mentoring. 
  
  

• Charter Oak State College will serve as the lead for CT Health Horizons’ round two innovative program. The proposed program is a collaboration between Connecticut State Community College (CT State) and COSC to provide a seamless and accelerated pathway for students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Via concurrent enrollment, community college students transferring to a four-year institution will have reduced the time and money required to complete their degree, as well as access to resources and opportunities at both CT State and COSC.
  
  

• Southern Connecticut State University’s School of Nursing will partner with Yale New Haven Health Systems to pilot a part-time BSN evening/ weekend program that provides a career ladder to the BSN credential for full-time Patient Care Technicians/ Certified Nursing Assistants and other entry level healthcare employees.
  
  

• Southern will also partner with two New Haven healthcare agencies for an innovation to establish an MSW field placement training center in their respective agencies. This pilot program will test the strategy for expanding clinical placements and increasing employee retention. This partnership will provide field placements and facilitate timely graduation for 30 of the additional students who are admitted into Southern’s MSW program over the three-year period of the CT Health Horizons program.

The 20 CT Health Horizons partner institutions representing nursing and social work programs statewide include: Albertus Magnus College; Central Connecticut State University; Charter Oak State College; CT State Community College; Eastern Connecticut State University; Fairfield University; Goodwin University; Quinnipiac University; Sacred Heart University; Southern Connecticut State University; University of Bridgeport; University of Hartford; University of St. Joseph; Western Connecticut State University; Yale University; University of Connecticut, Storrs; UConn Avery Point, Stamford, and Waterbury campuses; and UConn School of Social Work.