ETSU secures expected $3.23 million federal grant for pharmacy students

JOHNSON CITY — A federal grant expected to provide $3.23 million over five years will help the East Tennessee State University Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy pay for student pharmacists' tuition and fees.The college announced in a Monday press release that it received an award from the Health Resources and Services Administration under its Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students program to support about 40 students each year. The initiative funds scholarships for vulnerable scholars who are more likely to practice in primary care and medically underserved communities.In the grant's first budget period, $646,411 will cover half of students' annual tuition and required fees. Students will be selected based on need. The rest of the expected funding is subject to available federal funds, project performance and other factors, according to the news release. Dr. Ralph Lugo, senior associate dean of the college and the grant's project lead, said the college was driven to apply for the funding for its students. In a region where many areas are medically vulnerable, he added, removing barriers for potential healthcare workers makes the pursuit of education affordable."We have a lot of students in this region that can potentially benefit from this grant because of accessibility issues, specifically financial accessibility," he said. "There are a lot of students that wish to go into a health profession, but there may be barriers that are in their way."Lugo sees the grant as a synergistic development to Tennessee General Assembly investments that have allowed the college to reduce tuition rates twice. According to the college, $2.5 million in state funding in 2023 and $3.2 million in 2026 have decreased the cost of tuition by up to 35%. "The fact that we've been able to reduce our tuition twice is very uncommon nationally speaking," Lugo said. "I think it really speaks to the opportunities that the students have in this region to be able to attend a college of pharmacy that's in their region that serves their region."The grant is one of several that the Gatton College of Pharmacy has secured through the federal government, including a multi-college research initiative through the National Institutes of Health. Lugo said most federal funds go toward research. This is one of the few, he added, that passes almost all of its dollars right onto the students. Although the grant doesn't require students to practice in rural or underserved regions, Lugo said, it does equip them to return to those communities."It's really about workforce development and financial accessibility," he said. "We hope to be able to increase the number of graduates that we graduate that actually go back into those disadvantaged areas to help reduce some of these inequities."