TESU Receives Two Grants to Advance Nursing Faculty Development and Credit for Prior Learning

Thomas Edison State University’s W. Carey Edwards School of Nursing and Health Professions and Office of Prior Learning Review (OPLR) have received two grants that will support the University’s efforts to strengthen the nursing faculty pipeline and advance the use of credit for prior learning to improve learner mobility.

The W. Carey Edwards School of Nursing and Health Professions received a $247,592 Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) competing continuation grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Ruth Wittman-Price, Ph.D, dean of the School of Nursing, has been named project director.

The award marks the third NFLP grant TESU has received since the University’s first award in 2023.

The NFLP, administered by HRSA, is designed to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty nationwide by providing low-interest loans to students pursuing careers as nurse educators. Eligible graduates may have their loans canceled when they fulfill their commitment to work as full-time nursing faculty.

Through the grant, TESU will make NFLP loans available to eligible students enrolled in the University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice and Nurse Educator Certificate programs. Loans may cover tuition, fees, books, laboratory expenses and other reasonable education-related costs. To qualify for loan cancellation, recipients must commit to full-time employment as nursing faculty following graduation.

“Preparing the next generation of nurse educators is essential to addressing the national shortage of qualified nursing faculty and, ultimately, strengthening the nursing workforce,” said Wittman-Price. “This continued support from HRSA allows TESU to remove financial barriers for nurses who want to become educators and to expand opportunities for experienced nurses to share their knowledge with future generations.”

The University’s second grant is a $12,000 award from the American Council on Education (ACE) to support TESU’s participation in an ACE Credit for Prior Learning task group. The grant was awarded to Academic Affairs in Strategic Initiatives and Institutional Effectiveness and Professional Learning and will support the work of the Office of Prior Learning Review.

The ACE task group will examine challenges associated with the collection, management and exchange of credit-for-prior-learning (CPL) data across systems. Its work will include identifying gaps where CPL data is poorly managed or unable to flow between systems, defining relevant data elements and developing common definitions to help bridge those gaps and creating toolkits, guidelines and other resources to support a stronger data ecosystem for learner mobility.

Provost Jeffrey Harmon, Ed.D., signed the agreement on behalf of TESU. TESU’s Dr. Mary Kierst, Ali Maysilles and Estelle Reeves will contribute to the ACE task group.

“Thomas Edison State University has long been a leader in recognizing learning that occurs outside the traditional classroom,” said Harmon. “This collaboration with ACE gives TESU an opportunity to help shape the systems and standards needed to make credit for prior learning more transparent, portable and useful for learners. By improving how this information is captured and shared, specifically with the Center for Career Relevant and Talent Evaluation of New Jersey (CREATENJ)’s project and the adjoined Talent Marketplace, we can help more students translate their prior learning into meaningful academic progress and to serve as a way to reveal skill-matched career opportunities.”

The two grants build on TESU’s commitment to expanding educational pathways for adult learners while strengthening the workforce through innovative approaches to professional education and the recognition of learning.