HRSA Nursing Workforce Grants (NEPQR): Grant Writing Support

HRSA's Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention (NEPQR) grants fund schools of nursing and their partners to expand and strengthen the nursing workforce. NEPQR is a family of programs, each with its own competition, and the Bureau of Health Workforce lists six of them. I write the application for schools of nursing, from the needs assessment to the budget justification, with large federal grants for universities, including HRSA nurse workforce grants, among the more than $11.7M secured for clients.

Who this fits and who it does not

Eligibility is written in each notice of funding opportunity, and the program pages state the usual applicant: an accredited school of nursing. The six NEPQR programs on HRSA's list, with eligibility as each program page states it:

• Clinical Faculty and Preceptor Academies (CFPA): accredited school of nursing.
• Mobile Health Training Program (MHTP): school of nursing.
• Pathway to Registered Nurse Program (PRNP): accredited school of nursing.
• Simulation Education Training (SET): an accredited school of nursing, a health care facility, or a partnership of such a school and facility.
• Workforce Expansion Program (WEP): public or private accredited schools of nursing, such as community colleges, nursing centers, nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities.
• Transition to Practice Program (TPP): an accredited school of nursing as defined in section 801(2) of the Public Health Service Act.

It fits a school of nursing with clinical partners, a defined underserved service area and the data to describe its workforce gap. It does not fit a company or an individual; these are institutional awards. Every program page carries the same note: always read the notice of funding opportunity for full eligibility requirements.

How the process works

Competitions open on Grants.gov when HRSA has funding. The most recent NEPQR competition on Grants.gov was NEPQR-TPP, HRSA-26-086: posted June 15, 2026, closed July 17, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET, 33 expected awards, award ceiling $750,000, estimated total program funding $24,262,837. Before that, NEPQR-WEP ran as HRSA-24-098 with an award ceiling of $1,000,000, and HRSA reports that the WEP program awarded over $4.8 million to five grantees in fiscal year 2024.

Current status: Closed, next cycle. No NEPQR competition on HRSA's open funding list as of October 20, 2026; the last one, NEPQR-TPP (HRSA-26-086), closed July 17, 2026. The program pages say that when funding is available, you apply via Grants.gov.

Working backward from a competition window: SAM.gov and Grants.gov registrations active and the institution's UEI confirmed before the notice posts; the needs assessment, partner commitments and letters of agreement drafted in advance; the project narrative, then the budget, justification and attachments; submission before the close, with time to correct Grants.gov errors.

My read

• HRSA reads the needs assessment first. A school that can quantify its region's shortage, its clinical placement bottleneck and its graduates' retention has most of the narrative written before the notice appears.
• Partnerships are scored, not decorative. Letters from clinical sites, preceptors and health systems need to describe what each partner will do and what the school will give back.
• The programs rotate. A school that misses one NEPQR competition should expect another, and the preparation carries over almost entirely.
• HRSA budgets are scrutinized line by line; the budget justification is as long as the narrative and I write it with the same care.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an NEPQR competition open right now?

No NEPQR competition on HRSA's open funding list as of October 20, 2026; the last one, NEPQR-TPP (HRSA-26-086), closed July 17, 2026. New notices appear on Grants.gov and on HRSA's Find Funding page.

How large are NEPQR awards?

The ceiling is set per competition: $750,000 for HRSA-26-086 (TPP) and $1,000,000 for HRSA-24-098 (WEP). Project periods and the number of awards are stated in each notice.

Can a hospital apply without a school of nursing?

Only where the program allows it: SET lists a health care facility or a partnership as eligible, and WEP lists nursing centers, nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities. The other four programs name schools of nursing.

What does the consultant do on an NEPQR application?

The needs assessment and data, the project narrative and work plan, the partner letters, and the budget and justification, written to the notice's instructions.