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The Bedford Falls Foundation Donor Advised Fund recently made a $1.8 million gift to support students in ��ñ��’s College of Nursing. This gift will create a fund to provide a total of 150 scholarships for junior and senior nursing students during the next three years, with the aim of reducing the workforce shortage in the field.

With 2,050 nursing students enrolled across the university’s eight campuses for the 2025-2026 academic year and more than 22,800 living nursing alumni throughout the world, Kent State’s College of Nursing boasts a 99.6% job placement rate within six months of graduation. This gift helps reduce financial burden on students to ensure that they complete their degrees. 

Partnerships like the one we are establishing with Bedford Falls Foundation and ��ñ��are critical to society,” said ��ñ��President Todd Diacon. “When private foundations join with us to support our students on their journey to earn a collegiate degree, we can help ensure a trained, talented and prepared workforce to support our communities. We are very grateful they have selected ��ñ��as a partner in their vision to support the nursing workforce.

The Bedford Falls Foundation and its related donor advised fund were established by Bill Conway Jr., co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group global investment firm, and his late wife, Joanne Barkett Conway, in 1997. The shared mission of their nursing philanthropy is to remove financial barriers to a high-quality nursing education and support educational partners in addressing the critical nursing workforce shortage.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Bedford Falls Foundation for this gift to support our future nurses,” said Melody Tankersley, Ph.D., Kent State’s executive vice president and provost. “This will allow our nursing students who are eligible for in-state tuition and are in good academic standing to focus on their studies without having to worry about their financial challenges.”

The college offers a wide range of programs, including Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing and doctoral degrees, with a focus on preparing nurses for leadership, research and advanced practice. It ranks among the top 10% of nursing schools nationwide and is a top-ranked public institution in northern Ohio. Its Master of Science in Nursing is ranked in the top 50 programs nationally, while the college maintains high National Council Licensure Examination pass rates (average 92%), with the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program seeing a 96% pass rate.

The Bedford Falls Foundation support comes at a critical time for the college and the nursing profession, which is experiencing significant shortages. National projections estimate that the U.S. nursing workforce meets about 92% of demand in 2026, leaving an estimated overall nursing shortage of 8%. This is Kent State’s first grant from the foundation.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the nursing workforce saw substantial disruptions as more than 100,000 nurses left the profession in 2020-2021, and the workforce has not recovered. Long-term government projections through the 2030s continue to forecast a persistent nursing deficit, with sustained shortages potentially leading to higher patient-to-nurse ratios, longer wait times, increased burnout among remaining staff and potential risks to patient safety and quality of care.

“Scholarship support has greatly relieved the financial burden of pursuing my nursing degree,” said Dominic Alandt, a senior nursing student at Kent State. “With scholarship support, I have been able to focus more on my schoolwork and not be so focused on working during the semester to be able to pay for my schooling.”

The foundation’s name was inspired by the name of the town in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and it is also a nod to the good luck the Conways experienced in their own lives. The Conways’ vision and the backbone of their philanthropy is to empower individuals with the skills and opportunities to find fulfilling employment and to ensure access to safety-net services for the most vulnerable populations.

“��ñ�� is preparing future nurses to become compassionate healthcare professionals, but they cannot do it alone,” Bill Conway said. “We are pleased to do our part by supporting scholarships that help students focus on their education and enter the workforce with less financial stress.”

Learn more about Kent State’s College of Nursing.