Scholarships encourage local, regional, heartland students to pursue careers in public health

The School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis is including among its scholarship opportunities specific scholarships for local, regional and heartland students. The school has introduced three scholarship programs designed to increase access to graduate public health education for students from St.Louis, the region, and surrounding states.

The scholarships align, in part, with the university's "In St. Louis, For St. Louis" initiative, which emphasizes institutional responsibility to the local community. Further, the scholarships aim to expand educational opportunities across the heartland.

"This approach is consistent both with the universitywide ‘In St. Louis, For St. Louis’ strategy, where we are leaning into our responsibility to our local context — and to our own 4x4 strategic plan, part of which focuses on local and global impact," said Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, the Margaret C. Ryan Dean of the School of Public Health, the Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health, and vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives.

The three scholarship programs offer tuition reductions ranging from 25% to 75% for master of public health (MPH) degree candidates. The programs are:

• The "In St. Louis, For St. Louis" Scholarship, available to residents of St. Louis city proper.
• The Show Me State Scholarship, which supports Missouri residents.
• And the Heartland Scholarship, which extends eligibility to residents of eight surrounding states: Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.

“There is a great wealth of talent in St. Louis, in Missouri, and in the heartland region,” said Angela Hobson, PhD, MPH, WashU Public Health’s associate dean of education. “Public health really is for everyone, and these scholarships will help local and regional students more readily attain a graduate degree from WashU. In turn, these graduates will strengthen the region’s public health workforce and make meaningful, lasting advances in the health of their communities.”

The initiative reflects a broader institutional commitment to community investment. Washington University also participates in the STARS College Network, which provides financial support to students from small-town rural America.

See here for a compilation of scholarship programs at WashU Public Health.

Writer

Hayley Abshear is the School of Public Health’s digital content strategist and social media coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Webster University and was previously a freelance writer for national publications and a content creator at a PR firm. She brings almost a decade of experience in writing, content strategy and social media marketing to the team.