Wake Tech Foundation
Foundation Supports Dental Hygiene and other Healthcare Graduates
Scholarships to Help Pay for Licensure Exams
RALEIGH, N.C. (June 11, 2020) – Wake Tech’s 18 dental hygiene graduates are each receiving a $1,000 scholarship to help them pay for licensure exams thanks to the Wake Tech Foundation.
The scholarships were a surprise announcement made Wednesday night during the program’s pinning ceremony. In all, the Foundation is providing about $41,000 to 135 students in healthcare programs from the college’s Rally Fund, the Martha Mann Smith Nursing Endowment, and the Perry Health Sciences Endowment.
Brenda Maddox, department head of dental hygiene at Wake Tech, said the scholarships illustrate how the college is reaching out and supporting students impacted by the pandemic.
“On behalf of the graduating dental hygiene students of 2020, I would like to thank the Wake Tech Foundation for the generous donation from the Rally Fund toward their licensing exams which are a critical part of their employability,” Maddox said. “Several students have not been able to work during the pandemic, and I am so excited that this sponsorship will help them to defray the costs of their exams. We can't thank the Foundation enough for the support of our program and our graduates.”
Dental hygienists must pass the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination, and in North Carolina, they must also pass the clinical exam administered by the Council of Interstate Testing Agencies, Inc. (CITA). The two tests and licensure fees are estimated to cost graduates $1,780.
Because of COVID-19, testing has been delayed and many graduates are still trying to get registered for testing dates. Some students are traveling to neighboring states, like Tennessee and West Virginia, to find open times.
Dental hygiene graduate Madison McCullock said she is thrilled to receive the scholarship, which will help offset the cost of her licensure exams that she’s scheduled to take in June and August.
“I am very thankful,” McCullock said. “I haven’t been able to work for a couple months due to COVID so this will help out a lot to help pay for my national and state boards.”
Normally, graduates would have to pass the exams and become licensed before they could work. But the N.C. State Board of Dental Examiners is allowing graduates to apply for provisional licenses enabling them to locate an employer to sponsor them to begin working in a dental office prior to passing the national and CITA exams. Several of the graduates have secured a sponsor from dentists in the area, Maddox said.
Wake Tech’s Rally Fund receives support from a variety of corporate and community donors including many college employees. The fund is designed to provide wrap around financial support to students. In response to the pandemic, the fund has been expanded to provide critical support for Wake Tech’s most vulnerable students including technology assistance, food security, support for displaced workers and small business mini grants.
