Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students - The proposed project will provide Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) to full time Master of Social Work (MSW) students at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) in West Hartford, Connecticut, to reduce financial barriers, increase enrollment and retention, and prepare graduates to serve in primary care and medically vulnerable communities. USJ’s MSW program is designed for working adult learners—many of whom are low income, first generation, and from underrepresented backgrounds—through evening and Saturday classes, hybrid delivery, and intensive field education that currently requires 480 internship hours in the first year and 600 hours in the second year for traditional students, and a 600 hour internship for Advanced Standing students. These substantial, largely unpaid practicum requirements create significant opportunity costs for students who must maintain employment and family responsibilities, limiting their ability to enroll full time, persist, and complete graduate education. The project addresses these needs by awarding substantial, need-based SDS scholarships that cover at least half of annual tuition for up to 120 full-time MSW students from economically, educationally, and/or geographically vulnerable backgrounds, with priority given to those experiencing severe financial hardship. Scholarships will be paired with structured academic and psychosocial supports, including a faculty facilitated mentoring program, a pre-entry writing and academic skills lab, financial education and loan literacy counseling, holistic advising, and targeted licensure exam preparation, all designed to help disadvantaged students manage the combined demands of work, family, coursework, and intensive field placements. SDS scholars will receive high quality, supervised field placements in organizations serving medically underserved communities, rural areas, and Health Professional Shortage Areas, including community health centers, hospital based primary care and behavioral health departments, and community agencies across central and eastern Connecticut. Each SDS recipient will complete at least one medically focused placement in a primary care or primary care–adjacent setting, gaining experience with integrated, team based care for children, families, older adults, and other high need populations experiencing co occurring medical and behavioral health conditions, trauma, poverty, and other social determinants of health. The project will serve MSW students from disadvantaged backgrounds and prepare them to enter and remain in primary care in rural, Tribal, and other medically vulnerable communities, thereby advancing HRSA’s goal of strengthening the health professions workforce where need is greatest. USJ’s SDS initiative meets the criteria for the HRSA SDS funding Priority 1: Proportion of graduates going into primary care; Priority 2: Proportion of graduates working in rural, Tribal, and other medically underserved communities (MUCs); Priority 3: Proportion of graduates who are underrepresented minority students (URMs), and Priority 4: Health Professions Shortage Area (HPSA).
