American Association of Colleges of Nursing

News & Data

To view AACN's latest news, visit: https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data.

Board of directors

• Chair: Jean Giddens, University of Kansas
• Chair-Elect: Julie Sanford, The University of Alabama
• Treasurer: Judith Karshmer, Arizona State University
• Secretary: Victoria Niederhauser, University of Tennessee Knoxville

Members-at-Large:

• Stephen Cavanagh, University of California-Davis
• Lorna Finnegan, Loyola University Chicago
• Eileen Fry-Bowers, University of San Francisco
• Mary Ellen Smith Glasgow, Duquesne University
• Rhoberta Haley, Pacific Lutheran University
• Valerie Howard, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Kimberly Hunter, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
• Shannon Bright Smith, Florida A&M University
• Julie Swann, Emory Saint Joseph Hospital

President and Chief Executive Officer (ex officio): Deborah E. Trautman

Graduate Nursing Student Academy

The Graduate Nursing Student Academy (GNSA) is a national division of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing that serves master's, doctoral, and post graduate nursing students. The GNSA functions as the national voice for graduate nursing students and promotes leadership, professional development, scholarly advancement, and advocacy engagement across graduate level programs in the United States.

The GNSA provides webinars, leadership development programs, networking opportunities, academic support resources, mentoring, and career development programming tailored for graduate level learners. The academy’s mission includes strengthening the graduate nursing pipeline and preparing students to assume leadership roles in clinical practice, academia, health systems management, and public policy.

A signature initiative of the academy is the GNSA Advocacy Leader Program. This program selects graduate nursing students nationally to participate in structured policy training and health advocacy engagement. Advocacy Leaders collaborate with AACN’s government affairs division, meet with federal stakeholders, promote awareness of nursing policy issues, and represent student perspectives within national policy discussions.

The GNSA also manages recognition programs, travel support for national conferences, student leadership awards, and professional development funding opportunities. Membership is free for all students enrolled in graduate nursing programs at AACN member institutions.

Scholarship Opportunities

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing offers a number of different scholarships to nursing students around the country for outstanding academic performance, students who aspire to leadership positions in academic nursing, and/or those who are committed to making a positive impact on the nation's health and health care. They have partnered with companies like Liaison, Uniform Advantage, and Hurst Review to provide thousands of dollars in scholarships each year to students that apply and meet the requirements. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, they have also started a scholarship program to help students that need financial support in order to complete their nursing programs and/or meet life expenses. Since the program was started in April 2020, they have disbursed a total of 158 awards.

References

References

1. "About AACN".
2. "About the Graduate Nursing Student Academy". AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/gnsa/about. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
3. "Graduate Nursing Student Academy Overview". AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/portals/0/policy-resources/gnsa-fact-sheet.pdf. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
4. "Leadership Opportunities for Graduate Nursing Students". AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/gnsa/leadership-opportunities. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
5. "GNSA Mission and Goals". AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/gnsa/mission-goals. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
6. "GNSA Advocacy Leaders". AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/gnsa/advocacy-leaders. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
7. "Government Affairs and Policy Engagement". AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/policy-advocacy/government-affairs. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
8. "GNSA Awards and Funding". AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/gnsa/awards. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
9. "GNSA Membership Information". AACN. https://www.aacnnursing.org/gnsa/membership. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
10. "Higher Education Admissions & Enrollment {{!}} LiaisonEDU".
11. "Uniform Advantage Scholarship {{!}} American Association of Colleges of Nursing".
12. "Hurst Review".