Scholarships

The Portiuncula Foundation awards scholarships on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis to one or more students working to obtain a nursing certificate, an associate, bachelor or master’s degree in nursing from a Catholic nursing school, college, or university in western Pennsylvania. Students must be entering their final year of full-time study. If enrolled in a second-degree accelerated BSN program, students may be entering their final semester.

Scholarship awards are granted each spring. Three memorial scholarships, originally established at St. Francis Medical Center School of Nursing, are available: The Teresa L. (Terri) Deithorn Memorial Scholarship; the Major Helen C. Humenansky Nursing Scholarship; and the Frances and Forrest Ellsworth Scholarship.

The scholarship application process is administered by the Portiuncula Foundation, while final selection of awardees
is made by the respective donor families. Payment is made directly to the institution for expenses related to tuition, fees, books, and other required materials. The institution charges the scholarship for such items.