Mental Health in Schools Excellence Program Act of 2025
The Mental Health in Schools Excellence Program Act of 2025 would create a federal program to expand the pipeline of school-based mental health service providers. Under the bill, eligible graduate programs (in school psychology, school counseling, school social work, or related fields) can enter into agreements with the Secretary of Education. Through these agreements, participating graduate institutions would contribute to a student’s cost of attendance, and the Secretary would provide matching funds—potentially covering up to 50% of the student’s cost of attendance. The aim is to recruit and retain more graduates who will work as school-based mental health providers in K–12 settings. The program emphasizes public-private cost sharing, targeted outreach to low-income students (Pell Grant recipients) and students from certain eligible institutions, and transparency about participating institutions and agreements. Institutions must specify how they will support students, set annual limits on contributions and the number of students served, and prioritize certain students for aid. Eligible fields and accreditation standards are defined to ensure graduates are prepared for licensure or certification in school-based mental health roles.
Key Points
- 1Establishes the Mental Health in Schools Excellence Program, a public-private contribution program to boost the workforce of school-based mental health providers.
- 2Financial model: the Secretary may provide up to 50% of a participating student’s cost of attendance, with the eligible graduate institution required to match an equivalent amount.
- 3Agreements with eligible graduate institutions: each participating institution signs an agreement detailing the method of contribution, annual per-student and total participant limits, prioritization criteria for students, and other operational terms.
- 4Eligible graduate institutions and fields: institutions offering graduate degrees in school psychology (accredited/approved and connected to licensure exams), school counseling, school social work, or other school-based mental health fields that lead to licensure; institutions may offer combinations of these programs.
- 5Outreach and transparency: the Secretary will publicly list participating institutions and related details, and will conduct outreach to Pell Grant recipients and students from HEA-listed institutions to promote participation.