Three Stony Brook University graduate students have been selected for the SUNY/OMH Scholarship Program, which aims to support and expand the mental health workforce in New York. The program is a partnership between the State University of New York (SUNY) and the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH), established in August 2022 as part of an initiative by Governor Kathy Hochul.
The scholarship program seeks to increase the number of mental health professionals from diverse backgrounds, with particular attention to communities that have had limited access to mental health care.
“Helping students from all backgrounds join the ranks of mental health professionals will mean more New Yorkers are able to access these vital services going forward,” said SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. “Mental health is important to all communities, and the SUNY/OMH Scholarship Program empowers more students to enter and thrive in this essential field. We are thankful to Governor Hochul and our partners at the New York State Office of Mental Health for developing programs like this scholarship to expand care across our state.”
The three Stony Brook recipients are doctoral student Jadyn Trayvick and master’s students Christopher Cajamarca Ortega and Anne Lins. They are among 18 SUNY students statewide pursuing degrees in mental health fields through this scholarship cohort.
The program provides scholarships for up to two years per student, along with paid internships, fee waivers for graduate school applicants, and other resources designed to help undergraduate and graduate students complete their degrees in mental health disciplines.
Eligibility criteria require candidates to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, residents of New York State, enrolled full-time at a SUNY campus majoring in a mental health discipline, maintaining at least a 2.5 GPA, and being at least second-year undergraduates or first-year graduate students. Preference is given to Pell grant recipients, veterans, AmeriCorps alumni, first-generation college students, and multilingual individuals.
In addition to this scholarship initiative, SUNY has committed nearly $10 million annually toward expanding mental health services at its State-operated campuses serving over 200,000 students across 29 campuses. There is also an additional $3 million annual investment dedicated specifically for enhancing mental health services at Community Colleges.
