Gov. Jon Corzine and Health and Senior Services Commissioner Heather Howard today announced that nearly $350,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding will enable seven New Jersey colleges and universities to offer disadvantaged students scholarships to become health care professionals.

The ARRA funding is part of $33 million the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is making available nationwide to address workforce shortages and give low-income students the tools and training they need to pursue careers as doctors, nurses and other health care professionals.

“This is another example of how the ARRA funding is both stimulating our economy and supporting safety net services,’’ said Gov. Jon S. Corzine “New Jersey’s racial and ethnic minority populations are growing, and so too is the state’s need for a diverse health professional workforce.’’

Each September the Department of Health and Senior Services celebrates Minority and Multicultural Health Month in New Jersey. “A diverse health care workforce is another tool we can use to ensure that all New Jersey residents receive access to high quality and culturally sensitive health care,” Commissioner Howard said.

Recipients of the grants and the amounts they received are: the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, $241,799; Rutgers University in Newark, $39,435; Essex County College in Newark, $35,680; Fairleigh-Dickinson University in Teaneck, $12,676; St. Peter’s College in Jersey City; $6,572; and Ramapo College in Mahwah, $6,572.

The funding that UMDNJ received includes $214,270 for scholarships for disadvantaged students and $28,529 for UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick for public health traineeships for students studying environmental health, biostatistics, epidemiology, toxicology, nutrition, or maternal and child health. 

The specific grants are listed below:

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