The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will distribute more than $22 million this summer through its Nursing Workforce Diversity (NWD) Program, a federal initiative to increase the number of racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. nursing profession. This comes despite the Trump administration’s ongoing campaign to roll back government-funded diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts across all federal agencies.
Administered by HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the NWD program has awarded nearly $200 million in grants since 2008, supporting colleges and universities that implement recruitment, retention, and mentoring programs for underrepresented minorities in nursing. The goal, according to HRSA’s official guidance, is to reduce healthcare disparities by improving diversity in the healthcare workforce.
The HRSA defines “underrepresented” minorities as American Indian or Alaska Native, black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander—explicitly excluding both white and Asian applicants from program benefits.
In the most recent 2022–2024 funding cycle, 76% of the 2,033 students trained under the program identified as belonging to one of these groups, according to HRSA data. The 2025 grant application process closed in March, and funds are expected to be awarded in July.
The initiative has drawn sharp criticism from medical policy watchdog group Do No Harm, which argues the program prioritizes identity over merit and may undermine care quality.
Dr. Kurt Miceli, medical director for Do No Harm, told The Daily Wire, “When you have grants that incentivize a discriminatory program to look at things other than merit, you create a system that’s not only discriminatory, but also promotes a lower level of care.”
Miceli praised the Trump administration’s recent efforts to curtail DEI programs, pointing to a January executive order signed by President Trump that called for the elimination of equity-based grant funding across all government agencies.
Do No Harm also disputes the premise that minority patients necessarily have better outcomes when treated by providers who share their racial or ethnic background, pointing to research that shows no consistent link between racial concordance and improved health outcomes.
Applicants for the NWD grant must outline strategies for recruiting and retaining minority students, including “holistic admissions” practices that deemphasize GPA and test scores in favor of less quantifiable attributes. They are also encouraged to offer race-specific scholarships, peer mentoring, and support systems for students from “disadvantaged backgrounds.”
According to Do No Harm, the holistic admissions approach is a “roundabout way” to continue race-conscious admissions practices following recent Supreme Court rulings that restrict the use of race in college admissions.
Some 2024 grant recipients include Frontier Nursing University, University of Cincinnati, Marquette University, University of Arizona, and Saint Louis University. Many of these institutions openly promote their DEI initiatives. For example, Frontier Nursing University, which received $555,000, boasts that 30% of its students are “students of color” and offers several scholarships limited to specific racial and ethnic groups.
Similarly, the University of Cincinnati, which received nearly $492,000, offers race-based scholarships through its CURE program, and previously hosted a “Black Student Nurses Day.” The University of Memphis’ Loewenberg College of Nursing also received funding and operates programs like STRONG RNs, specifically for supporting black and Hispanic nursing students.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), a key partner in the NWD initiative, offers consulting services to help nursing schools secure HRSA grants. AACN provides workshops, admissions reviews, and strategies for creating effective mentorship programs tailored to diverse student populations.
The funding announcement adds fuel to a growing national debate over federal involvement in diversity-based education and hiring practices. While supporters argue programs like NWD are essential to addressing long-standing health disparities and promoting cultural competence in healthcare, critics argue that race-based preferences are both unconstitutional and counterproductive.
“The nursing workforce is best served when nursing education programs select the best and the brightest,” Do No Harm concluded in its report. “Excellence and merit must be prioritized rather than race.”
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Obviously HHS must not work for the President.
I would like to know how far up the approval process went and who made the final approval. It seems to me that violation of an executive order can be considered a criminal act that has penalties.