HBCUs Latest Extramural Awards
SC State Awarded Nearly $3.8M in Rehabilitation
Counseling Grants
Funding provides scholarships to grad students
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – SC State University is the recipient of four federally funded
training grants totaling $3.75 million over the next five years. Awarded by the U.S.
Department of Education, the funding supports scholars in the graduate rehabilitation
counseling program, a nationally recognized, award-winning degree program at SC State.
The rehabilitation counseling program received the federal funding to assist graduate
students who are interested in working with clients with disabilities, mental illness,
substance abuse and vocational placement issues.
Dr. David Staten, ‘92, ’94, professor of rehabilitation counseling and chair of the Department of Human
Services, serves as principal investigator of two newly awarded Rehabilitation Counseling Long-Term
Training Grants, totaling $2 million over the next five years. Dr. Cassandra Conway, who is a professor
and coordinator of the rehabilitation counseling program, will also assist as grant project faculty to train
scholars.
“These newly awarded grants and others provide huge benefits to graduate students and the
Rehabilitation Counseling program, alike. We are pleased to be able to attract and recruit the best and
brightest students through these grants and others within our program,” says Staten.
“We primarily like to provide opportunities locally and also recruit students from across the state and
other locations as well,” he notes.
Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling Dr. Bridget Hollis Staten, ’96, and Dr. Michelle Maultsby,
associate professor of rehabilitation counseling, serves as co-principal investigators of the Rehabilitation
Counseling Long-Term Training Grants, both totaling $1.75 million. The awarding of the new grants
will allow students enrolled in the master’s rehabilitation counseling degree program to receive free
tuition, monthly stipend and professional development opportunities during the 2015-2020 academic
years.
These training grants are used to assist in increasing the numbers of rehabilitation counselors trained in
providing vocational, medical, social and mental health services to individuals with disabilities,
including veterans.
Each scholarship recipient commits to working in a state-federal rehabilitation program upon graduation.
Of these grants, 75 percent of the funds will be used to support graduate students in the program by
paying their full tuition and fees, professional development activities and a cost of living stipend. The
university will benefit directly from these grants by receiving tuition funds for over 20 students per year.
South Carolina State’s rehabilitation counseling program has a long history of being awarded federal
grants to support scholarships for graduate students. In the past 12 years, the rehabilitation counseling
program has been awarded $11.75 million in federal funding.
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