Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) announced today that the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell will receive a total of $125,614 in federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program.  The funding comes from annual federal appropriations with additional money coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Funds will be used to give scholarships to health profession students with financial need.

“I am pleased that this funding will help our universities support the education of disadvantaged students in health professions,” Johnson said. “This funding will increase training opportunities for a new generation of health care professionals and promote service in underserved areas of South Dakota. All South Dakotans deserve to have access to quality health care, and this funding will help ensure that they do.  Thanks to the stimulus these amounts are nearly double the regular appropriations for these important programs.”

The Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program provides grants to schools to give scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds with financial need.

Dakota Wesleyan University will receive $20,000 for scholarships in its Associate Nursing Program.  The University of South Dakota will receive $48,266 for scholarships in its Associate Nursing Program and $57,348 for scholarships in its Allopathic Medicine Program. 

The stimulus package signed by President Obama is focused on tax cuts for the middle class, infrastructure investments and job creation. This funding is a prime example of the kind of resources the legislation provides to help improve communities while advancing South Dakota’s economy.

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