Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, has announced a $5.2 million gift from the Harper Family Foundation will support the university’s nursing program.

The gift will establish the Harper Scholars Nursing Program, a nearly full-tuition scholarship in Creighton’s College of Nursing. The program will fund the education of 30 nursing students across four cohorts with support for a leadership program led by faculty, a senior fall break trip to the Institute for Latin American Concern in the Dominican Republic, and a research and travel fund. The gift also will create a position for a program director, who will oversee programming and provide mentorship around research and clinical placement.

The program is aimed at addressing an expected shortage of nearly 5,500 nurses in the state by 2025.

“Our hope is that for nursing students around the country, this scholarship will be the scholarship to go for,” said Harper Family Foundation trustee Chris Murphy. “That it draws students who are aligned with the mission of the program and who will become, to borrow a phrase from Mike Harper, ‘quarterbacks for the care of patients and their families.′”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Fat Camera)