Montgomery County Community College Receives $20k Nursing Scholarship

Montgomery County Community College submitted the following news release:

As part of GENEX’s Annual Case Manager Scholarship Award Program, MCCC was one of five schools across the country to receive a scholarship award. The annual program provides a total of $100,000 in scholarship awards to schools nominated by GENEX employees who graduated from those institutions.

The other schools include: Shepherd University, Shepherdstown, WV; University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; and Western Washington University, Everett, WA. Since GENEX initiated the scholarship program in 2012, MCCC’s Nursing Program is the only two-year program to receive the award.

MCCC’s scholarship was the result of the initiative and advocacy of nursing alumna, Polly McGraw, a GENEX employee. McGraw nominated the Nursing Program because of the positive impact it had on her life.

As a single mother of two children in 1978, McGraw wanted to start a career that would allow her to support her family. Her solution was MCCC’s Nursing Program.

“It was a life-changing decision for me,” McGraw said. “At that time, I was working three menial jobs that did not provide enough income. I knew with a nursing degree, I would be able find a job immediately after graduating.”

She enrolled in the program at MCCC, and two years later in 1981, she was employed as a full-time nurse at Montgomery Hospital. While working, she continued her education and earned her bachelor’s degree at Philadelphia University and then her master’s degree at St. Joseph’s University.

In 1986, McGraw transitioned to a career in health-care administration. Then in 1998, she started working for GENEX Services, Inc., in Wayne, PA, where she currently holds the position of Manager of Managed Care Organization (MCO) Administration and Compliance.

GENEX’s scholarship award will be placed in an endowment fund to benefit future nursing students at MCCC for many years.

For more information about Montgomery County Community College’s Nursing Program, visit its website.