Albizu University receives $6.9M in U.S. Dept. of Education grants
The U.S. Department of Education awarded a total of $6.9 million in grants to Albizu University to fund two projects aimed at training the future workforce in behavioral sciences and other disciplines.
The projects will create opportunities for career exploration in psychology as early as high school over the next five years and will offer scholarships for graduate study and professional certifications, school officials said.
“These projects are intended to offer access to cutting-edge education so that our island has the professionals it needs to address the mental health crisis that we are facing,” university President Nelson Soto said. “These federal grants recognize the capacity of our San Juan Campus and our Mayagüez University Center to be part of the solution.”
The Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Program received $3.9 million, being one of 67 awarded in the United States and the only one in Puerto Rico. Through an alliance with the island’s Department of Education, students who graduate from the School Psychology and Counseling programs at Albizu University will have the opportunity to benefit from 20 scholarships to intern in public schools.
Albizu University will also offer four professional certifications to mental health professionals, paraprofessionals and technicians.
A second grant of $3 million, from the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans Program, will be allocated to the Graduate Student Center at the San Juan campus in Old San Juan. The funding will support curricular innovations, faculty development for three master’s degree programs, the establishment of the One Button Studio for class recordings and the provision of 49 scholarships to graduate students.
Neither grant requires cost-sharing on the part of the university.
