The Graduate Certificate in Addiction Scholarship

The Graduate Certificate in Addiction Scholarship

The Graduate Certificate in Addiction Program was created to provide the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for individuals to pursue state licensing and provide counseling services in the substance addiction treatment field. This program pairs state-of-the art research from internationally recognized experts in addictions with clinical expertise from licensed psychologists and licensed addictions counselors with decades of experience providing treatment for substance use disorders.

The Scholarship is dedicated to support up to 7 graduate certificate students with financial need and a personal connection to addiction and recovery, with funding of up to $6,500. Funding will allow students financial and time flexibility to devote effort to their studies. All students who meet the application criteria will receive consideration for the Graduate Certificate in Addiction Scholarship without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, citizenship, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

Students who attend full-time can complete the program in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. Those who attend part-time will attend Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Summer 2022, and Fall 2022. The scholarship award will be disbursed each semester, over the course of the program, whether attending full-time or part-time. There is no need to re-apply each semester, but students must maintain a 3.0 GPA in the Certificate Program to receive funding in subsequent semesters.

Application Criteria and Expectations: Students wishing to apply for the Graduate Certificate in Addiction Scholarship must meet the following criteria to be considered:

  1. The student meets all admission requirements and has applied to the Graduate Certificate program.
  2. Identified students MUST meet Arizona State University financial need criteria. This scholarship requires eligible applicants to demonstrate financial need. In order to determine your eligibility, you must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the scholarship deadline. You may complete the FAFSA at the following link: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.
  3. Students are expected to write a short statement (200-500 words) about their financial need/benefit from the scholarship.
  4. Students are expected to write a short application essay (200-500 words) about their personal connection to addiction and recovery.

Application and Project Timeline

  1. Completed application materials including the Application Form are submitted to the Addiction Certificate Advising Office (addictioncert@asu.edu) no later than July 22nd for Fall 2021, and December 14th for Spring 2022.
  2. Scholarship recipient(s) are notified by email on or before August 6th for Fall 2021 and January 3rd for Spring 2022.
  3. The total scholarship award of $6,500, will be disbursed as $928 per course). The award amount each semester will be based on the number of courses enrolled in (e.g. if a student registers for two courses in Fall 2021 they receive $1,856 of the total award amount $6,500).  There are a total of seven graduate certificate courses available in which the total scholarship award of $6,500 covers half of the total program tuition.
  4. The selection will not be made until almost the start of the semester and award disbursement will be delayed as a result.  These funds will be deposited into the student’s MyASU student account.  
  5. By the first day of Spring semester, student recipients are awarded $928 per course the student is enrolled.

Graduate Certificate in Addiction Scholarship Application

(Submit completed application to Addiction Certificate Advising Office, addictioncert@asu.edu, by July 22nd,, 2021)

  1. Student information
  2. Name, Student ID#
  3. Anticipated Graduation Date
  4. GPA
  5. ASU Financial status NEED

                                                              i.      Student statement describing a demonstrated financial need.

  1. Complete FAFSA
  2. Short statement: 200-500 words about financial need
  3. How funding will allow students financial and time flexibility to devote effort to their studies.
  4. Typed double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font
    1. Application Essay: 200-500 words about your personal connection to addiction and recovery
    2. Identify your interests/goals related to the Addiction Certificate.
    3. How would receiving the scholarship contribute to your long-term goals as an addiction counselor?
    4. typed double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font
      1. An application will not be accepted and reviewed until all materials are received.

Graduate Certificate in Addiction Scholarship Selection Criteria

  • Program Director and two faculty in the Graduate Certificate program will comprise the Graduate Certificate in Addiction Scholarship Selection Committee.
  • The committee will review all submitted documents for all applicants.
  • Recipients will be awarded based on 1) Financial Need 50%,  2) Student Application 50%.  [The Committee recognizes that ALL applicants for the Graduate Certificate in Addiction Scholarship must demonstrate financial need.  Upon receiving verification from the University that the applicant does indeed qualify as meeting the criteria of High Financial Need, the Committee will consider student statement of financial need circumstances (criterion 2:e:1) in the student application.  This serves as the basis for the 50% weighted Financial Need evaluation for awarding the Scholarship.

Graduate in Addiction Certificate Scholarship Advertising

Information about the Addiction Certificate Scholarship will be available on the Addiction Certificate webpage.

Addiction Certificate Program Fund

The Graduate in Addiction Certificate Fund accepts contributions to support scholarships and the operation of the ASU Department of Psychology Addiction Certificate program. The mission of the program is to support ASU students with financial need and a personal connection to addiction, with the goal of increasing the number of qualified substance abuse counselors serving those in need.

Direction to spend money in the Graduate in Addiction Certificate Fund comes from the Director of the Graduate Certificate committee to the ASU Foundation, the fund custodian.