College students: have you considered a career supporting Veterans?
For young adults (or even as returning students), college is about making a commitment to better yourself and, in the process, searching for your true purpose. We understand that search, because at VA, we’ve already found a noble mission that gives our work meaning.
Better yet, it’s a mission you can make your own, especially if you have an interest in a mental health career.
Mental health careers at VA
With around 18 million Veterans in the United States, and more than 9 million Veterans relying on VA for care, you’d be hard pressed to find a person who doesn’t know someone who has served our country. You likely know—or even are—a Veteran yourself.
Our mission is to serve those who have served, because nothing is more important to VA than supporting the health of the nation’s Veterans and their families. To do that, our mental health professionals approach their work by building on their strengths and offering respect, honor, and hope to both the Veteran and the family members who support them.
- VA psychologists can practice in several specialized areas, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries, and serious mental illness. They can also work in management, research, academia, and training.
- Psychiatrists focus on prevention, evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and emotional disorders in their patients. However, the key difference for VA psychiatrists is working with Veterans who have unique and often complicated mental health challenges.
- As a licensed professional mental health counselor (LPMHC) or marriage and family therapist (MFT) at VA, you’ll provide counseling to individual Veterans, as well as their spouses and families, to help them find the solutions they need for better mental health.
- Our social workers provide direct clinical services and coordinate special interest programs–all while working with the interdisciplinary care team to deliver care in the best interests of the patient.
But no matter your role, you’ll be part of a larger mission. It’s a mission that means everything to the Veterans who come to you for care.
“I meet a lot of our candidates who find our mission compelling. Our work is about what the patient needs, not about the bottom line or what insurance will reimburse. That’s liberating for the people who come to work here,” said James Marfield, associate director of VA’s National Recruitment Service.
Beyond our mission of serving Veterans, VA has ways to help pay for your education and get you started in what could become a lifelong mental health career.
Vet Center Scholarship Program
If you’re considering a career in mental health care, VA has scholarships that support budding professionals like you. Chief among those programs is Vet Center Scholarship Program, which assists individuals pursuing graduate degrees in mental health roles.
VA Vet Centers are community-based counseling facilities that provide a wide range of social and psychological services. Vet Center counselors and outreach staff offer professional counseling services to eligible Veterans and service members.
Vet Centers are staffed with social workers, psychologists, LPMHCs and MFTs. This program provides funding for up to 2 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 1 of 300 Vet Centers across the country, with a commitment to work as part of our team for 6 years.
Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program (SELRP)
Students interested in pursuing psychiatry as their mental health career can consider the Specialty Education Loan Repayment Program (SELRP), which aims to help physicians shrug off their student debt.
SELRP provides partial loan forgiveness to recent graduates matched to (or currently enrolled in) a VA residency. Eligible psychiatrists receive a loan repayment of $40,000 a year over 4 years, up to $160,000.
The program is unique in that you start offloading student debt during your residency. In return, you agree to practice at a VA facility for 12 months for each $40,000 received, with a minimum commitment of 2 years.
Education Debt Reduction Program
Some mental health care jobs also qualify for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), which has helped more than 20,000 of our employees repay their student loans faster.
EDRP offers loan repayment to those working in some of our hardest-to-fill direct patient care positions. Social workers, psychologists, and even nurses specializing in mental health care can receive $40,000 a year—or $200,000 over a 5-year period— through EDRP.
These funds are tax-free and, unlike some of our other programs, don’t require a mandatory service agreement. If you choose to leave VA before your 5 years are up, you don’t have to pay back any of the funds you’ve received.
Work at VA
As you consider your future, know that a mental health career at VA can be rewarding in more ways than one.
- EXPLORE mental health jobs at VA.
- LEARN more about our mission of service.
- READ about our scholarship programs.
- SEARCH for an opportunity near you.
