Mary Lewis Wyche Scholarship 2026

In 2003, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation to create a First in Nursing license plate with $15 of each license plate sold going to the NC Foundation for Nursing to fund the Mary Lewis Wyche Fellowships. Mary Lewis Wyche was the founder of the North Carolina Nurses Association in 1902 and was the nurse who spearheaded the creation of the first nursing practice act in the country which was passed on March 3, 1903.

Purpose: The Fellowships will be awarded to registered nurses seeking their masters or doctorate in nursing practice or administration on a full-time basis. These Fellowships are awarded up to $5,000 annually. If a recipient finds that they must reduce the number of hours enrolled, they will only receive half of the monetary award.

The use of AI technologies including, but not limited to, notetaking tools, meeting assistants, or recording technologies is prohibited while engaging with NCNA except as described in section 3.8 of the “Acceptable Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools by Members and All Parties Involved with the North Carolina Nurses Association” policy (Policy 1.7). All applicants are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity and ethical responsibility when using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools during the application process. The policy can be found on www.ncnurses.org.

1. Must be a resident of North Carolina for at least 12 months prior to application.

2. Must be admitted to a program in North Carolina offering a master’s degree or doctoral degree (PhD, DNP) in nursing practice or administration. Online programs are also acceptable, provided you are a North Carolina resident.

3. Must be enrolled full-time (at least 9 hours per semester – doctoral work will be determined by institution’s definition of full-time). Documentation is required at the time of application if your institutions definition of full-time differs than NCNA's definition (9 hours/semester).

4. Must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in work already completed in the program in which currently enrolled or in masters program if no course work has been taken in the current program.

The Fellowships will be awarded to registered nurses seeking their master's or doctorate in nursing practice or administration on a full-time basis. These Fellowships are awarded up to $5,000 annually. If a recipient finds that they must reduce the number of hours enrolled, they will receive half of the monetary award.

All NCFN scholarships are awarded without regard to race, sex, religion, age or national origin. Priority will be given to NCNA members.