Grant to Support University of Arkansas Students Preparing to Be Rehabilitation Counselors

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A new federal grant of $750,000 will provide funding to 35 University of Arkansas students preparing to work as rehabilitation counselors with people who have disabilities.

Brent Thomas Williams, associate professor and program coordinator in the rehabilitation education and research program in the College of Education and Health Professions, received the grant from the Rehabilitation Services Administration. The grant will pay tuition, fees, stipends and travel expenses for 35 master's level students over the five-year grant cycle. This grant is the fourth grant concurrently awarded to the rehabilitation program. At present, the program has a total of $2.5 million in RSA grants and is able to offer $500,000 a year in traineeship funding.

"Of the 50 million people in the United States who possess some level of challenged ability to perform a daily life activity, approximately 16 million are limited in their ability to seek and maintain employment and/or live independently," Williams said. "Rehabilitation counselors assist persons with disabilities in developing the skills necessary to integrate into the work force and the community at large. Today, in the current economic climate, there is an ever-growing need for rehabilitation counselors, and the rehabilitation education and research program is positioned to continue its longstanding tradition of providing one of the best education and career opportunities."

The rehabilitation program has been listed for several years at No. 15 in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of graduate programs. It has also received a No. 1 ranking in the nation for institutional productivity in scholarly publications in the field of rehabilitation.

"RSA funding is crucial to our program's success," explained Williams. "It greatly facilitates our ability to recruit top master's-level students and place our graduates in well-paying positions."

Since Williams joined the faculty in 2002, he has procured more than $3 million in funding from the Rehabilitation Services Administration.

"Rehabilitation counseling isn't a field that gets the spotlight very often," he said. "I tell people, you may never know what a rehab counselor does until you need one; and, then, she or he may just be the best person you ever met. RSA funding helps us get the word out about our profession and our program."