Three Stony Brook University graduate students are among 18 State University of New York (SUNY) students pursuing degrees in mental health fields in the SUNY/OMH Scholarship Program.
The scholarship program was established in August 2022 by Governor Kathy Hochul and is part of SUNY’s partnership with New York State’s Office of Mental Health (OMH) to strengthen the pipeline of mental health professionals from diverse backgrounds, with a focus on serving New Yorkers who may have historically lacked access to quality mental health care.
“Helping students from all backgrounds join the ranks of mental health professionals will mean more New Yorkers are able to access these vital services going forward,” said SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. “Mental health is important to all communities, and the SUNY/OMH Scholarship Program empowers more students to enter and thrive in this essential field. We are thankful to Governor Hochul and our partners at the New York State Office of Mental Health for developing programs like this scholarship to expand care across our state.”
SBU students awarded scholarships include doctoral student Jadyn Trayvick and master’s students Christopher Cajamarca Ortega and Anne Lins.
The program was designed to increase retention and completion rates of undergraduate and graduate students. Scholarships are awarded for up to two years per student, and the program also offers paid internships, fee waivers for graduate school applicants, and more to support students in mental health degree programs.
To be eligible for the SUNY/OMH Mental Health Scholarship, students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, residents of New York State, enrolled in a SUNY campus majoring in a mental health discipline, maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA, be full-time students, and be at least second-year undergraduates or first-year graduate students. Preferred candidates include Pell grant recipients, veterans, AmeriCorps alumni, first generation college students and multilingual students.
In addition to this program, SUNY is investing nearly $10 million in recurring annual funding to support state-operated campuses in expanding mental health services — reaching 29 campuses enrolling more than 200,000 students — and is investing $3 million in recurring annual funding to support mental health services at community colleges.
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