Kaiser Offers Scholarships to Help Students Pursue Health Care Careers

Graduating Hawai‘i high school seniors who want to pursue a career in the health care industry can get some help from Kaiser Permanente to further their education.

According to a press release, Kaiser’s Health Equity Scholarship Program provides $2,500 scholarships to help young leaders achieve their dreams of going to college and getting into a health care field. Interested students can apply through March 1.

Scholarship recipients will be announced in June, with awards distributed in the fall.

According to a 2021 Nursing Education study, three of Hawai’i’s five counties — Kaua‘i, Maui and Hawai‘i — are among the top 15 counties in the nation with the highest primary health care worker shortages.

“Opportunities that encourage students to pursue careers in health care will help remove barriers that might otherwise discourage students from clinical professions,” the press release said.

Scholarships will be awarded to graduating high school seniors who plan to enroll in an accredited, public or nonprofit, four-year university or community college for the 2022–23 school year. Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5 and demonstrate an interest in pursuing a clinical (physician, pharmacist, practitioner, nurse) or non-clinical (accounting, business administration, finance, human resources, marketing, operations, public policy) career in the health care industry.

Preference will be given to students with demonstrated financial need and/or are from underrepresented communities.

For the 2021–22 school year, scholarships were awarded to 20 students from throughout Hawai‘i.

The press release said that 80% of past scholarship recipients are Native Hawaiian students, and 75% of recipients are the first generation in their family to attend college.

To learn more about Kaiser Permanente’s Health Equity Scholarship Program and to apply, click here.