If you’re interested in paving a path to a health care or mental health career at VA, there’s no time like the present to explore scholarship programs that help you finish your degree and offer an opportunity to work with Veterans when you graduate.
For clinical professionals, our Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP) offers tuition and support in pursuit of your degree, while mental health professionals can benefit from the Vet Center Scholarship Program.
Health Professional Scholarship Program
The Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP) awards scholarships to students receiving education or training in a health care services discipline, and HPSP helps us meet our need for qualified health care professionals for which recruitment or retention is difficult and improving our Veteran care outcomes.
These positions include:
- Nursing
- Nurse practitioner (NP)
- Physician assistant (PA)
- Physician
- Medical laboratory scientist (MLS)
- Clinical laboratory scientist (CLS)
- Diagnostic radiologic technologist (DRT)
- Social worker (MSW)
- Psychologist
- Pharmacy technician
- Pharmacist
The HPSP award pays your tuition and approved fees through direct payment to your school. HPSP assistance includes topping off any existing grants and scholarships to ensure 100% of your tuition and fees are paid.
HPSP also provides a monthly stipend of $1,300 per month and an additional annual stipend to help cover everything you need for your classes, including books, office supplies, and even computers.
In return, you’ll start your medical career as part of the VA team, and you’ll agree to practice at a VA facility for a minimum of 2 years.
“The scholarship makes working at a VA facility more of a reality in a way. I think it has provided me a clearer path, said Dr. Arianne D. Sacramento, a HPSP recipient. “I also believe that having a clearer path and direction is kind of like added motivation. I know where I am going and have a better idea of what the future holds for me.”
Vet Center Scholarship Program
There are also scholarships that support mental health professionals and the work they do at VA Vet Centers, community-based counseling facilities that provide a wide range of social and psychological services.
Vet Center counselors and outreach staff, many of whom are Veterans themselves, are experienced and prepared to discuss the tragedies of war, loss, grief, and trauma after transition. They offer professional counseling services to eligible Veterans and service members, including National Guard and Reserve components and their families.
In support of these roles, the Vet Center Scholarship Program assists individuals pursuing graduate degrees in mental health roles, including:
- Social worker
- Psychologist
- Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselors (LPMHC)
- Marriage and Family Therapists (MFT)
Administered through HPSP, this program provides funding for up to two years of graduate studies in these fields, as well as a monthly stipend and funds to cover office supplies, books, and more.
Through the Vet Center Scholarship, you’ll have a VA career ready and waiting upon completion of your degree. In exchange for your scholarship, you’ll work full-time at one of 300 Vet Centers across the country, with a commitment to work as part of our team for 6 years.
Repayment programs
If you’ve already completed your education, fear not! VA has student loan repayment programs that help ease your financial burdens and offer gainful employment at the same time.
For physicians, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, social workers, psychologists and more, VA’s Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP) offers loan repayment up to $200,000 at $40,000 a year to those working in some of our hardest-to-fill direct patient care positions.
Through the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP), some employees may be eligible for up to $100,000 in debt repayment assistance in exchange for signing a service agreement establishing your intent to remain with our team for at least 3 years.
By cancelling loans after 10 years of public service, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program removes the burden of student debt and incentivizes people to work in high-need fields throughout the federal government, including at VA.
Work at VA
While these programs are available throughout the year, applications received now through March 31, 2024, will be considered for start dates in the summer and fall of 2024. Apply now!
- READ more about our education support programs.
- APPLY to HPSP and the Vet Center Scholarship Program.
- LEARN more about VA careers.
