WSSU Lands Nearly $45 Million in State Budget for Scholarships, Nursing Program, and Campus Upgrades

Winston-Salem State University is set to receive nearly $45 million through North Carolina's 2026 state budget, a funding package aimed at putting more students on campus, more nurses into the workforce and long-delayed improvements into some of the university's oldest buildings.

For Winston-Salem, the investment gives one of the city's anchor institutions new resources to compete for top students, strengthen a healthcare pipeline and remake campus spaces that serve both the university and the broader community. WSSU is a public Historically Black College and University in the University of North Carolina system that enrolled 4,972 students in fall 2025, up 4.0% from the previous year.

"This budget represents more than an investment in Winston-Salem State University; it is an investment in North Carolina's future," Chancellor Bonita J. Brown said.

"These strategic investments expand opportunity for our students, strengthen our ability to prepare the workforce our state needs, support the outstanding employees who make our mission possible and position WSSU to build on the momentum of our 'We Are Rising' strategic plan," Brown said.

Starting in the 2027-28 academic year, WSSU can award as many as 50 merit-based Cheatham-White scholarships each year, joining NC A&T and NC Central as only the third North Carolina HBCU authorized to offer the scholarships at that level. Forty scholarships annually will be reserved for in-state students, with 10 available to out-of-state students.

The four-year, full-ride scholarship covers tuition, student fees, housing, meals, textbooks, a laptop, supplies, travel and personal expenses, along with four summers of fully funded enrichment, networking and possible international travel or study.

The budget also brings WSSU into the state's response to the nursing shortage through the new Nursing Fellows Forgivable Education Loan Pilot Program. WSSU students pursuing Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees or Master of Science in Nursing Education degrees can receive forgivable loans of up to $5,000 per semester or $2,500 per summer session, provided they enroll during the 2026-27 or 2027-28 academic years.

The arrangement ties financial support to service in North Carolina. One-third of a participant's loan balance and accrued interest will be forgiven for every year of qualifying full-time work as a nurse or nursing instructor in the state, with borrowers required to repay—through forgiveness or cash—within 10 years of completing their degrees.

The need is significant. North Carolina faces a shortfall of 806 nursing degrees against total demand for 3,966 degrees, according to the UNC System's Workforce Alignment Report. The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects that North Carolina will have the nation's second-largest registered-nurse shortfall by 2038, with a deficit of 25,710 nurses.

The funding package also includes a 3% salary increase for eligible SHRA and EHRA employees at WSSU, along with one-time bonuses and additional compensation for sworn law enforcement officers.

The largest share of the allocation—about $40 million across two fiscal years—will go toward capital improvements, including completing the K.R. Williams Auditorium renovation and continuing modernization projects at Eller Hall and Pegram Hall.

The budget releases $14.65 million specifically to finish the auditorium renovation. The project will add a new lobby, studio theater, lecture hall and 45,000 square feet of expansion to the more-than-1,600-seat venue as part of a total project budget of $62.7 million.

Eller Hall, which dates to the mid-1930s, will receive a full renovation and an elevator addition and is in the programming phase. Pegram Hall, a residence hall built in 1937 that has been offline for years, will be renovated and receive an elevator addition; that project is in the designer-selection phase.

The funding supports WSSU's We Are Rising strategic plan, which centers on student access, workforce readiness and campus infrastructure.

"At WSSU, we believe higher education should transform lives while strengthening communities. This investment allows us to accelerate that work and deepen our impact across North Carolina," Brown said.