Rural and Underserved Trainee Stipend Program
In BHECN’s Rural and Underserved Trainee Stipend Program, graduate-level students in applied behavior analysis, marriage and family therapy, and social work programs taking advanced practicum courses or students in clinical mental health counseling programs taking clinical or advanced internship courses are eligible to apply. Only applicants intending to practice in Nebraska after graduation with practicums or internships serving rural or underserved communities will be considered.
Requirements and Eligibility
To qualify, graduate-level students need to be near the completion of their academic programs and have fully developed practicum or internship experiences in Nebraska serving rural or underserved populations. These experiences should be confirmed by the student’s academic supervisor or practicum/internship coordinator before applying.
Students should apply for this program during the academic term before they are enrolled in their practicum or internship experience. Students currently enrolled in their practicum or internship courses who have already started completing hours for their experience are not eligible to apply.
Eligible Academic Programs
To be eligible, graduate-level students should be enrolled in one of the following programs:
- Bellevue University MS Clinical Mental Health
- Chadron State College MAE Clinical Mental Health Counseling
- Crown College MA in Counseling
- Doane MA in Counseling w/a specialty in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
- Nebraska Wesleyan University Master of Social Work
- UNK MS Clinical Mental Health Counseling
- UNL MA Counseling Psychology - Community Counseling Track
- UNL MS Marriage & Family Therapy
- UNMC MS Applied Behavior Analysis
- UNO Grace Abbott School of Social Work Master of Social Work
- UNO MS Applied Behavior Analysis
- UNO MS in Counseling with a Concentration in CMHC
- Wayne State College MSE Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Stipend Payments
Students accepted into this program will receive a $15,000 stipend. This stipend will be distributed over the length of the experience through monthly payments.
Student supervisors may be eligible for a $5,000 stipend once the experience has been completed. Only $5,000 is allocated per student for their supervision. If a student completes their practicum or internship at multiple locations or has more than one supervisor, the $5,000 will be distributed between the supervisors accordingly.
Application Details
Applications will only be accepted through the official application platform during the timeframes indicated on the platform’s homepage. Applications submitted before or after the indicated timeframes will not be considered. Interested students are encouraged to review the Application Questions and Guide before applying to understand what type of information they will need to provide.
When to Apply
Applications for this program will be accepted twice a year during the Fall and Spring terms. Students should apply for this program during the academic term before they are enrolled in their practicum or internship experience.
Students should apply during the Spring 2024 term if they will be enrolled in their practicum or internship course(s) with experiences starting in the Summer or Fall 2024 terms.The application cycle for the Spring 2024 term will open on Feb. 12, 2024, and close on April 7, 2024. Applications submitted outside this timeframe will not be considered. Students will be notified of their acceptance into the program in April.
Frequently Asked Questions
Students should follow the guidelines from their academic programs when developing their experiences to ensure that the practicum or internship course requirements are met. Before applying, experiences should be confirmed by the student and their academic supervisor or practicum/internship coordinator.
No. The program is intended to support students at the start of their practicum or internship experiences. This is to help create a cohort of students all at the same stage of their experiences.
Students can develop experiences at any clinical or other training site that serves rural or underserved populations in Nebraska. Please communicate with your academic supervisor or practicum/internship coordinator to ensure that your training site meets the requirements of your academic program.
It is common for academic programs to have practicum or internship courses and experiences that last multiple semesters. These experiences are allowed if the total number of hours required by the academic program will be completed consecutively across the semesters.