Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Scholars Academy Scholarship
Kaiser Permanente has established a scholarship program for graduate students pursuing a master’s degree in social work, marriage & family therapy, or clinical counseling with a defined affiliation with Kaiser Permanente in Northern or Southern California.
Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Scholars Academy Scholarship
Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Scholars Academy advances lifelong learning across the mental health career continuum, from students to trainees to experienced professionals. Participants of this scholarship will receive tuition support, mentoring, networking for training placements, and educational seminars.
The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.
Eligibility
Applicants to the Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Scholars Academy Scholarship must:
- Enrolled full-time in an accredited master’s degree program in social work, marriage & family therapy, or clinical counseling that has a defined affiliation with Kaiser Permanente in Northern or Southern California. Schools include, but are not limited to:
- Northern California:
- KP School for Allied Health Sciences
- Master of Science in Counseling
- Northern California:
- Southern California:
- Alliant International University
- Master of Marriage and Family Therapy
- MFT and Clinical Counseling Students: Has not applied for or completed pre-master’s practicum
- MSW Students: Has not applied for or completed the second field practicum placement
*Northern California students will not submit an application through Scholarship America. Kaiser Permanente will identify those students and select them outside of the SAI application process.
**MSW program will not be offered for the 2026 recruitment cycle.
Awards
If selected as a recipient, the student will receive an intial $3,000 award.
The number of awards depends on the number of qualified applications received from each eligible school. Once recipients enter the practicum portion of their program, they must meet Kaiser Permanente employment requirements including passing a background check, drug screen, visa requirements, if applicable, or other requirements required by Kaiser Permanent. Kaiser Permanente will verify employment requirements when applicable.
Awards are for graduate study only.
Awards can be used for any education-related expenses. Awards will be made payable to recipients and may be considered taxable income.
Awards are renewable up to three times, dependent on completion of milestones and approval from the Sponsor:
- Upon successfully starting practicum at a KP site, recipients will be eligible for a $5,000 renewal award. Renewal is contingent upon maintaining enrollment in the graduate program and remaining in good academic standing at the time of renewal.
- Upon successful completion of at least one (1) term of practicum at a KP site, recipients will be eligible for another $5,000 renewal award. Renewal is contingent upon maintaining enrollment in a graduate program and remaining in good academic standing at the time of renewal.
- Upon successful completion in the last academic term and continued practicum placement at the KP site, recipients will be eligible for a final renewal award of $6,485. Renewal is contingent upon maintaining enrollment in the graduate program and remaining in good academic standing.
Notification
All applicants will be notified by email upon completion of scholarship review.
Notifications are sent via email. When setting up your account, avoid using a school or work email. Instead, use an active, personal email address that you will continue to have access to.
Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address as safe senders in your email contact list.
Payment of Scholarships
Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of Kaiser Permanente.
Selection of Recipients
Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:
- Academic performance
- Volunteer experience and community service
- Work experience
- A statement of educational and career goals and objectives
- Lived Experience
- Financial need will not be considered.
Selection of finalists is made by Scholarship America. Kaiser Permanente will select recipients. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients.
The program is open to all applicants; our partner organizations have a need for bilingual and multilingual behavioral health professionals, with the following high demand languages:
- Spanish
- Mandarin
- Cantonese
- Vietnamese
- Farsi
- Tagalog
- American Sign Language
Requirements
As part of your application, you must upload the following:
- A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display:
- Student Name
- School Name
- Degree or Program Name
- Grades
- Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken
- Your Name
- Loan servicer name
- Statement date
- Current loan balance
Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.
