Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education Scholarships

The following Fellowships and Scholarships are available to students in EDSCE.  Criteria and eligibility are listed below.  Funds for these programs are limited and as designed to supplement other funds.  For application deadlines and specific funding and eligibility requirements please contact your faculty advisor or Director of Graduate Studies.  Recipients are expected to attend the annual College of Education Scholarship banquet held in September of each year.  Other funding may be available thought grants and teaching, research, and graduate assistantships.  Check with your faculty advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.

• Blackhurst Student Research Fund
  The Blackhurst Student Research Fund provides scholarships to support the research of students who are pursuing graduate degrees. Graduate students in good standing who are pursuing majors in one of the academic programs in EDSCE are eligible to apply for a scholarship. Research activities must be conducted as part of a Master’s Degree Thesis, Educational Specialist Degree Research Project, or Doctoral Dissertation and associated pilot studies. Students who wish to apply must submit a completed application that includes an abstract of the proposed research, the amount of funds requested with a budget, and disclosure of any support that has been committed or awarded from other sources (e.g., grad school research funds, agency funding, grant proposals). Applications should be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies.
• C. Michael Nelson Endowed Graduate Fellowship
  The C. Michael Nelson Endowed Graduate Fellowship is a scholarship fund to support graduate students studying Emotional and Behavioral Disorders at the University of Kentucky. Any graduate student who wishes to apply for a scholarship must be in good standing and must be part of a Master’s Degree Thesis, Educational Specialist Degree Research Project, or Doctoral Dissertation and associated pilot studies. Students who wish to apply must submit a completed application that includes an abstract of the proposal, the amount of funds requested, and a rationale to support the need for funding while seeking full-time or part time graduate study in EDSCE. Applications should be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies.
• Della Marie Johnson Endowed Research Fund
  (For CED Graduate Students) This scholarship is for Counselor Education faculty conducting research in either Counselor Education Programs in collaboration agencies/companies in the public sector in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It will be a requirement that a Counselor Education graduate student be appointed to participate in each approved project. The graduate student will be responsible for assisting the faculty member with conducting literature reviews, data collection and analysis, report and grant writing, and journal publication. A special emphasis will be on proposals that address traumatic brain injury and cognitive impairments. Please make sure you address the criteria to receive this scholarship in your letter (i.e., brain injury and or cognitive impairments). The research project will not be funded for more than two years. In #19 on the application, please address the criteria for the award.”

• Martin Thacker Scholarships
  (For CED Graduate Students) This scholarship is for individuals who meet the following criteria:

   

  1. Have a disability (ADA or Disability Resource Center) or are from a sparsely populated area (i.e., rural community) and commit to working with clients from rural areas.
  2. Applicants for this endowment must serve clients in counties with sparsely populated communities.
  3. Are committed to working in Counselor Education (i.e., Rehabilitation Counseling/Clinical Mental Health Counseling) with adults with developmental disabilities in sparsely populated communities.
  4. Upon completing the Counselor Education Program, serve for a minimum of two years in an agency/company that serves individuals with developmental disabilities in a sparsely populated area in Kentucky for each year the scholarship is received.
  5. Funds are awarded when students enter clinical practice and clinical practicum and/or clinical internship.
  6. Also, awardees must successfully complete the Rural Rehabilitation course.

  In #19 on the application, please address the criteria for the award.

• James Arvle Thacker Endowment
  (For CED Graduate Students) This scholarship is a onetime funding for students in the College’s Counseling Education Program enrolled in either the Rehabilitation Counseling or Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s degree programs who have completed thirty academic hours with a minimum GPA of 3.7 (with a minimum of 30 hours completed) on a four-point scale. Preference shall be given to student(s) from Kentucky or Georgia. The Scholarship Committee shall determine the recipient(s) and amount(s) of the scholarship(s). Please make sure you address the scholarship criteria (i.e., GPA, Kentucky or Georgia resident, enrolled in a web based CED Program) #19 on the application form.
• Barbara J. Edwards Special Education Scholarship
  The Barbara J. Edwards Fellowship offers a scholarship renewable up to three years to students who are pursuing a doctorate in Special Education and who have a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average. Criteria for this scholarship is under review. Please check back for updates. Students who wish to apply for this scholarship should contact the Director of Graduate Studies.
• Alma Lee Allen Special Education Scholarship
  The Alma Lee Allen Special Education Scholarship offers a scholarship for undergraduate or graduate students majoring in special education who have a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average and a financial need. Students who wish to apply for this scholarship should contact the Director of Graduate Studies.

• Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Training for Interdisciplinary ProfessionalS (NASTIPS) Personnel Preparation Program, 2023-2028. NASTIPS is an exciting new federally funded training program for graduate interdisciplinary early childhood educators and speech/language pathologists, to learn effective methods for serving children with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) or other high intensity needs, and their families. Through this program, we will train two cohorts consisting of eight scholars, for two years each. Our first cohort is half-way through their program of study and will complete the program in spring 2026. Four of the scholars work toward initial certification in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (IECE) and four work toward a master’s degree in Communication Sciences Disorders (CSD). IECE scholars will finish the program with a Rank III teaching certification and CSD scholars will finish with a master’s degree and necessary coursework to become licensed speech language pathologists. NASTIPS provides IECE and CSD scholars with a unique evidence-based interdisciplinary program to prepare them to serve a high-intensity early childhood population and their families. Children with NAS present with multiple needs and few providers are experienced with this complex condition in our state or in the nation. Through NASTIPS, scholars participate in shared coursework and practicum experiences each semester. Scholars are grouped in pairs for many experiences, including one each scholar from IECE and CSD, to enhance the interdisciplinary learning experience. Thus far, the scholars have enthusiastically evaluated their learning experiences, through coursework activities and field-based experiences with families experiencing substance use disorder (SUD) and their children. To ensure that scholars master NASTIPS competencies, direct observation measures and technical writing reviews are conducted and evaluated to guide each scholar's progress. For information about the program, contact shawkins12@uky.edu, judith.page@uky.edu, joneen.lowman@uky.edu, or caroline.gooden@uky.edu.
• Special Education and Communication Disorders- Interdisciplinary Training (SPEAC-IT) is funded for five years by the Office of Special Education Program, U.S. Department of Education and totals $1,153,000. The grant is a collaboration of the Human Development Institute (HDI), Special Education (EDS), and Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) programs at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Jane Kleinert (CSD) is the principal investigator of the grant. She is joined by Dr. Judy Page from CSD, Drs. Melinda Ault and Margaret Bausch from EDS, and Dr. Jacqui Kearns from HDI who will manage the grant. The personnel preparation grant will prepare special educators and speech-language pathologists to work collaboratively to serve children with severe disabilities and complex communication needs.The grant will provide tuition support for scholars in the Special Education Teacher Leader Master’s and Speech-Language Pathology Master’s programs. In addition to the required coursework in their respective programs, scholars will complete collaborative activities. They will take nine credit hours of shared graduate coursework focusing on serving individuals with severe disabilities and complex communication needs. The courses will provide training in assessment, intervention, and technology and will include seminars, interdisciplinary group assignments, and practicum experiences.“We, in Communication Sciences and Disorders, are so excited to have this opportunity to work in an interprofessional pre-service program with the Department of Special Education. Our previous research has taught us that students with severe disabilities often do not have a viable communication system in place to allow them to fully participate in all aspects of the school day. Only a combined effort of the Speech/Language Pathologist and the classroom teacher can achieve consistent communication intervention for these students. The SPEAC-IT grant will allow this vital interprofessional approach to be modeled and practiced in both the academic and school-based settings.” Jane Kleinert, Project Director. For additional information, special education students should contact Dr. Melinda Ault at mjault@uky.edu, 859-257-7689 or Dr. Margaret Bausch at meb@uky.edu, 859-257-8810. To apply, visit: https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5bYvCQwTZcwnZe5
• College of Education Scholarships: The College of Education offers a variety of scholarships.
• Traineeship in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education: Traineeship Program funds are available to help defray part of the tuition costs for courses that lead to teacher certification in interdisciplinary early childhood education. With the increasing shortage of fully certified teachers seeking teaching positions in early childhood education, a major focus of the Traineeship program is on teachers seeking alternative certification, emergency or probationary certification, and working toward full certification while enrolled in a Kentucky institution of higher education. For questions, call 859-448-8810, email kytraineeship@kytraineeship.org, or visit https://kytraineeship.org/.
• Early Childhood Development Scholarship: The Early Childhood Development Scholarship provides a seamless system to upgrade the professional development of those working in early care and education. The state legislature and the Governor created the Early Childhood Development Scholarship as part of the KIDS NOW early childhood initiative. The scholarship provides financial assistance, to the extent of available funds, in the form of non-repayable tuition scholarships for Kentucky students who are pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education. For questions contact Leigha Hale, 859-246-6738, leigha.hale@uky.edu or visit https://www.kheaa.com.
• Graduate Student Travel: The Graduate School provides a block grant directly to the College of Education to support graduate student travel. All graduate students who are presenting their research at a professional meeting will be considered for this funding when they apply to the Research Activity Award Fund. Approximate funds for a student’s domestic travel is $650 and for international travel is $1,050. For questions contact Margaret Bausch via phone at 859-257-8810, email meb@uky.edu, or visit https://education.uky.edu/research/awards/.