Scholarships and Aid
Financial aid is available in the form of graduate assistantships, Chancellor's Fellowships, Graduate School Study Grants, and student loans. Certificate-only students are not eligible for financial aid. For more information, please see the page for Funding Sources for Graduate Students and the Financial Aid Office.
Only full-time students are eligible for graduate assistantships. These assistantships are highly competitive, are for the academic year, and carry a stipend commensurate with the number of hours the student works. With very rare exceptions, assistantships offered through the program are available only in Cullowhee and include opportunities for working with faculty, assisting in the office, and/or teaching COUN 140.
Teaching assistants are expected to teach one or two sections of COUN 140 per semester at WCU in Cullowhee. COUN 140 is a one semester-hour college transition course for undergraduates, titled Skills for College Life. Prospective, new, or continuing students should contact the Counseling program director for more information.
The Carole Hearn Curtis Scholarship is a Counseling program scholarship, endowed by family and friends of Carole Hearn Curtis, the late mother of current WCU Counseling faculty member, Dr. Russ Curtis. This scholarship is awarded each spring semester to a student enrolled in internship. The first Carole Hearn Curtis Scholarship was awarded in 2011.
The Mary Deck/Break by the Lake Scholarship is a Counseling program scholarship endowed through the program鈥檚 Break by the Lake conference and in honor of retired WCU Counseling faculty Dr. Mary Deck. It is awarded each fall semester to a student enrolled in field experience. The first Mary Deck/Break by the Lake Scholarship was awarded in Fall 2011. Deadline for applications is February 1st.
The Mary Wayte Scholarship is a college-wide scholarship available for international students and preference is given to those applicants from the Caribbean and Central and South America.
The Dan Saddler Scholarship was endowed by family, former students, and friends in memory of Dan Saddler, a faculty member in the counseling programs from 1973 until his death in 1988. This scholarship was awarded for the first time in 1999-2000. The annual deadline for applying for this scholarship is December 1. It is awarded to a student who has completed at least 18 hours in the program and has been actively involved in the counseling program and in community activities. Preference is given to part-time students. Applications include a letter of interest and two letters of reference from persons outside the counseling program. For more information on the Dan Saddler Scholarship, contact the program director or your advisor.
