The Illinois Farm Bureau Rural Nurse Practitioner Scholarship Program was started in 1992. It is an effort to encourage and develop a pool of rural health practitioners to help meet the needs of primary care in rural Illinois.

This year, the Illinois Farm Bureau's Rural Nurse Practitioner Scholarship Program consists of five $4,000 scholarships. These will be awarded, by the program, to be used by the selected Registered Nurse to further their study at an accredited college or university to become a Nurse Practitioner and practice in a rural area of Illinois. The scholarships are funded by the Rural Illinois Medical Student Assistance Program. If you receive the scholarship, you will be required to work for two years in a rural community.

Please refer to the following items for further documentation and the appropriate forms to complete.

APPLICATION

The completed application must be received in this office by May 1. Please note that the completed application form must have the signature of the county Farm Bureau president of the county in which you reside. You must also include three letters of reference, one from a registered nurse, and a one-page statement of why you want to be a nurse practitioner in a rural area.

PROTOCOL

This lists important dates to remember. The most important date at this point is May 1 when completed applications are due in this office. Please pay close attention to the responsibilities of the scholarship winner and dates items are due in this office.

LIST OF RURAL COMMUNITIES

This list is not based on practitioner to patient ratio but is based on the size of a community. Cook and the collar counties and other larger metropolitan areas are not included. Few, if any, opportunities exists in these areas. NOTE: Except for the communities expressly listed herein, there can be no guarantee that any Illinois community will be acceptable, regardless of size or rural character of the community as it exists at the time of the execution of this Agreement. Administrator approval is required before your commitment to an area not included upon this list. Please contact the Rural Nurse Practitioner Program Administrator for clarification or any questions you may have.

CHECK-OFF LIST

This form will list the items that need to be returned with the completed application form in order to be eligible for consideration for the scholarship.

If you receive the scholarship, you will be requested to sign a scholarship agreement and a promissory note. If the terms of the agreement are not fulfilled, you will be required to pay back the scholarship plus interest.

If you wish to view a copy of the brochure, please click here.