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Behavioral Health Academic Scholarship

Scholarship will not be offered in 2021, please check back next year!

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AAC’s Behavioral Health Academic Scholarship Program

Future Behavioral Health Professionals

In 2015, acknowledging the growing need for qualified addiction and mental health professionals to help those struggling with addiction and co-occurring disorders, American Addiction Centers (AAC) decided to launch an educational scholarship program to assist students who were enrolled in college programs in the area of Behavioral Health. We established our Behavioral Health scholarship awards to provide financial assistance that to would enable undergraduate and graduate students to pursue careers in the areas of behavioral health and addiction-related studies.

Eligible Programs:
– Social Work
– Psychology
– Nursing
– Counseling
– Marriage and Family Therapy
– Substance abuse or mental health training programs

$10,000 in Scholarships Awarded


Submission Guidelines:

Award Amounts: First Place: $5,000
Second Place: $2,500
Third Place: $2,500
Submission Period: January 1, 2019 through May 30, 2019
Award Announcement: June 30, 2019
Award Date: August 26, 2019
Submission: Submit scholarship applications to scholarship@contactaac.com or use form the below.

Scholarship Eligibility
– Enrollment in academic program in nursing, counseling, psychology, social work, marriage/family therapy, or other curriculum focusing on treatment of mental health and substance use disorders.
– GPA 3.2 or above
– College Freshman as of Fall Semester 2019
– Open to full or part-time college undergraduate or graduate students

Entry Requirements
In the form of a first-person essay, answer the following question: (500 words max.)

Describe what drew you to want to pursue a career in behavioral health care. What is one milestone you hope to achieve in this field?


Selection Process
Essay submissions will be reviewed by a committee of behavioral health professionals selected by AAC. The review period will begin after the submission deadline of May 30, 2019. Scholarship recipients will be chosen by the selection committee.


Terms and Conditions

2018 Award Recipients

During the 2018 AAC Behavioral Health Academic Scholarship submission period, we received over 2,024 essay submissions. The competition was fierce and it was very difficult to select just three. Three outstanding essays were chosen as the scholarship finalists and winners:

  • $ 5,000 – 1st Place – Crystal Clark, Masters in Family Therapy, California State University at Northridge
  • $2,500 – 2nd Place – Anjalee Sharma, Ph.D in Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • $2,500 – 3rd Place – Jessica Lurie, Masters in Nursing, University of North Carolina School of Nursing at Durham