Midwives are essential to delivering high-quality, evidence-based maternity care and are central to New Jersey’s maternal health strategy. High tuition costs and limited financial aid, however, create significant barriers to entering and completing midwifery education—particularly for students from historically marginalized communities. State-funded scholarships directly address these barriers and strengthen the pipeline of trained midwives.
These supports are critical for retention in rigorous clinical programs and help ensure timely graduation into New Jersey’s midwifery workforce.
New Jersey’s investment in midwifery student scholarships at Rutgers School of Nursing are achieving their goals:
Early outcomes show clear benefits and underscore the importance of continued state investment.
New Jersey invested approximately $1 million in scholarships for 48 midwifery students at the Rutgers School of Nursing. Funds were provided directly to students and used to offset tuition, fees, and essential living expenses during an intensive period of academic and clinical training.
Students from across all three regions of New Jersey attend the Rutgers Midwifery program and are able to remain in their communities throughout the program.
Scholarship recipients reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of New Jersey’s birthing population. By reducing financial barriers that disproportionately affect Black, Brown, and lower-income students, state funding supports a more diverse midwifery workforce and advances access to racially and ethnically concordant care, an important contributor to patient trust and quality of care.
Of the 48 most recent graduates from the Rutgers midwifery program, 47 of these midwives currently work in New Jersey. Nuture NJ scholarship funds invest in the future health care providers who will serve their communities across New Jersey.
Nearly all scholarship-supported students plan to practice in New Jersey after graduation. As a result, state dollars translate directly into increased in-state workforce capacity. Scholarships represent an efficient upstream investment, strengthening the supply of trained midwives without relying solely on downstream recruitment or retention incentives.
State funding advances maternal health and health equity while strengthening New Jersey’s workforce capacity.
