La Salle receives six-figure grant to support undergraduate nursing education

June 22, 2022

Nursing Students

The $300,000 sum from the Regina Charitable Fund at the Philadelphia Foundation will create undergraduate scholarships and establish an endowed scholarship fund at La Salle.

La Salle University has received a $300,000 grant through the Philadelphia Foundation’s Regina Charitable Fund, a substantial sum that will help undergraduate nursing students complete their degrees and support the establishment of an endowed scholarship fund at La Salle.

Beginning in Fall 2023, the endowed scholarship portion of this grant will provide partial scholarships for La Salle undergraduate nursing students on an annual basis in perpetuity. The gift will support the Dean’s Scholarship for Nursing and help create the University’s Regina Charitable Fund Endowed Scholarship for Nursing.

“La Salle University is stronger with the support of advocates, friends, philanthropists, and organizations like the Philadelphia Foundation. This $300,000 grant from the Regina Charitable Fund will provide financial support for our undergraduate nursing students and prepare them to lead in their field.”

– Daniel P. Joyce, M.A. ’01, La Salle Vice President of Advancement

La Salle’s undergraduate nursing program is ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report. BSN students at La Salle routinely exceed the national and Pennsylvania first-time pass rate averages on their national council licensure examination, or NCLEX. The program produces graduates who go on to lead in clinical settings ranging from community clinics to the region’s largest healthcare systems.

“This level of support from the Regina Charitable Fund at the Philadelphia Foundation is an external recognition of the quality of our undergraduate nursing program at La Salle and its impact in healthcare systems here in Philadelphia and around the world,” said Kathleen Czekanski, Ph.D., the dean of La Salle’s School of Nursing. “With this grant, for which we are so grateful, future nurses each year will receive support toward completing their degrees at La Salle and launch their paths toward becoming compassionate and leading caregivers.”

“La Salle University is stronger with the support of advocates, friends, philanthropists, and organizations like the Philadelphia Foundation,” said La Salle Vice President of Advancement Daniel P. Joyce, M.A. ’01. “This $300,000 grant from the Regina Charitable Fund will provide financial support for our undergraduate nursing students and prepare them to lead in their field.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has called to the forefront a need nationally for more registered nurses. In fact, the American Nurses Association (ANA) points to a forthcoming talent gap. The average age of registered nurses was 52 years old, as of 2020, with more than 20% planning to retire by 2025, according to the ANA. The professional organization forecasts that healthcare systems will annually hire nearly 200,000 registered nurses this decade in order to meet the demand for more skilled nurses.

“It has been a great pleasure working with the administration of La Salle University,” said Michele Michaels, a spokesperson for the Regina Nursing Center’s Board of Directors. “We are happy to be able to assist the nursing students of the future achieve their dream and to be able to continue the legacy and values set by our founders of Regina Nursing Centers.”

—Christopher A. Vito