Tag: scholarships

Photograph of LU-OKC Campus exterior near entranceway

Langston University receives $3.125 million in grants to support rehabilitation programs, student scholarships

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OKLAHOMA CITY–Langston University’s Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies earned $3.125 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education to support the university’s rehabilitation programs, including funding 96 full-tuition scholarships over the next five years.

The department has been awarded three grants; one is from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services (OSERS), and two are from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA).

The first grant, funded through the RSA and totaling $1 million over five years, will establish a specialized Pre-Employment Transition Services to Youth with Mental Disabilities track within the department’s master’s program for Rehabilitation Counseling. This will include funding the tuition, fees and a living stipend for 30 graduate students over five years.

The second grant, worth $1.25 million and funded by OSERS, will establish a new track within the undergraduate Rehabilitation Services bachelor’s degree program. The new track will be School-to-Work: Preparing Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and the grant will fund the tuition, fees and a living stipend for 36 undergraduate students over the next five years.

The last grant is from the RSA and will pay out $875,000 over five years. This grant will establish another new track within the Rehabilitation Services program: Pre-Employment Transition Services to Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (including Autism). It will fund 30 undergraduate scholarships over the next five years, which will include tuition, fees and a living stipend.

“Langston University is honored to receive this transformative investment from the U.S. Department of Education,” said President Ruth Ray Jackson. “These three grants reflect our unwavering commitment to preparing highly qualified professionals who will serve youth with mental, intellectual, and developmental disabilities.

“I commend Dr. Corey Moore and the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies for their leadership in advancing inclusive education and workforce development. This funding strengthens our mission as a land-grant institution and expands access to high-impact academic programs that meet urgent national needs.”

headshot of Dr. Corey Moore in a suit and tie
Dr. Corey Moore is the Founding Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies.

Undergraduate students interested in the Rehabilitation Services program who wish to apply for the scholarships within either track must have completed at least 41 hours of general education courses prior to applying. Interested individuals should contact Professor Emanual Lewis, the Rehabilitation Services Program Coordinator at LU-Tulsa, via phone at 918-902-3184 or via email at emanual.lewis@langston.edu.

Graduate students interested in the new track within the Rehabilitation Counseling program should contact Dr. Andre Washington, the Rehabilitation Counseling Program Coordinator at LU-OKC, via phone at 405-530-7525 or via email at andre.washington@langston.edu to apply for scholarships.

“The awarding of these grants, especially three at the same time, speaks to the relevance and value of the work being done here at Langston University in the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies,” said Dr. Elizabeth Albright, Interim Dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences. “These scholarships enhance what Langston University already does to support students through degree completion. By providing financial support, not only are students able to graduate without adding debt, but they will be stronger in their field because their primary focus can be school.”

LU’s Rehabilitation Counseling graduate program is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and it was recently ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a Top 20 rehabilitation graduate program in the nation. Accredited through CACREP, the graduate program has also birthed two Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (RRTC) that are both funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research.

These new grant projects present an exceptional approach to student development through LU’s partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, Tulsa Public Schools and other local education agencies. Significant attention will be devoted to cross-fertilizing these academic initiatives and ongoing RRTC trainings to increase students’ knowledge of the delivery and transition of mental health and developmental disability support services to school-age children and youth.

The goal is to improve the supply of fully credentialed rehabilitation, mental health and disability professionals for employment in local educational and/or rehabilitation agencies.

“These innovative federally funded educational initiatives are critical for training and preparing our undergraduate and graduate students within the department to help meet the demands of human service systems addressing the current national youth mental health crisis as well as the pre-employment service support needs of school-age children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities” said Dr. Moore, the Founding Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies and project director for all three grants.

The OSERS priority focuses on personnel preparation for special education, early intervention and related services personnel at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribally controlled colleges and universities, and other minority-serving institutions. The RSA priorities are consistent with the purpose of the Rehabilitation Long-Term Training program, which is to provide financial assistance for academic training areas of personnel shortages in vocational rehabilitation.

These funded initiatives at Langston University are in direct response to identified needs in personnel development, as well as to improve services and outcomes for school-age children and youth with mental, intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Dr. Corey Moore headshot

Langston University Awarded U.S. Department of Education-Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services Grant Totaling $1.25 Million to Prepare Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Mental Disabilities

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OKLAHOMA CITY––Langston University, Oklahoma’s only historically Black college or university, has been awarded a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Servies (OSERS) to establish a new specialized course of study to prepare personnel to serve school-age children with mental disabilities.

The grant, which will total $1.25 million over five years, will be used to establish the “School-to-Work: Preparing Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Mental Disabilities (STW-SACMD)” track within the university’s existing CACREP accredited Master’s of Science Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling Program. Dr. Corey L. Moore, a professor in and the founding chair of the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, will serve as Project Director for this grant.

Moore is also the Principal Investigator at the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Research and Capacity Building for Minority Entities (LU-RRTC) and Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Advancing Employment Equity for Multiply Marginalized People with Disabilities (LU-2ERRTC).

“This initiative is important to the field of disability and employment as it affords our program the opportunity to train and prepare our students for rehabilitation positions that serve school-age children with mental disabilities from minority backgrounds to achieve a smoother transition from the secondary grade school system to the world of work,” Moore said.

The STW-SACMD project presents an exceptional approach to student development through LU’s partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, Tulsa Public Schools and other local education agencies in Oklahoma.

Significant attention will be devoted to cross-fertilizing STW-SACMD and on-going LU-RRTC and LU-2ERRTC trainings, including with webinars and community of practices, to increase students’ knowledge about the delivery of transition and mental health services to school-age children with mental disabilities from minority backgrounds. The goal is to increase the supply of fully credentialed rehabilitation and mental health professionals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds available for employment in local educational and/or rehabilitation agencies.

The grant will pay for tuition and fees and will provide a living stipend for 36 students in the Rehabilitation Counseling Program, which was ranked #19 and highest across all HBCUs by the U.S. News & World Report in the publication’s 2023 rankings of Rehabilitation Counseling Programs in America.

“I am immensely proud of the continued success of Dr. Moore and scholars within Langston University’s Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies,” said Dr. Ruth Ray Jackson, President of Langston University. “This $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education is further evidence of the impact of their work in preparing our students for success and addressing needs across underserved communities.

“This significant investment supports our institutional priorities of offering quality academic programs, engaging in purposeful partnerships, and ensuring access to education for all.”

This OSERS priority (ALN 84.325M) focuses on personnel preparation of special education, early intervention, and related services personnel at HBCUs, Tribally controlled colleges and universities, and other minority-serving Institutions under focus area (B)- preparing personnel to serve school-age children with disabilities.

The funded STW-SACMD initiative at LU is in direct response to identified needs related to personnel development issues and demands and the improvement of services and results for school-age children with mental disabilities, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, including those who are multilingual.

LANGSTON UNIVERSITY SELECTED AS THE TOM JOYNER FOUNDATION OCTOBER SCHOOL OF THE MONTH

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Media Contact: Christina Gray, Media Relations Specialist, (405) 466-6008, cgray@langston.edu

Langston University was recently selected as the Tom Joyner Foundation’s October School of the Month. As the School of the Month, the Tom Joyner Foundation (TJF) will assist Langston University to raise funds in October. TJF will solicit gifts from alumni, alumni chapters and others to support the University and 100 percent of funds raised go directly to Langston University. They will also continue their efforts and help raise funds for the University for the remainder of the year.

During October, four outstanding Langston University male students will be selected to receive the $1,500 Hercules Scholarship. To qualify, students must be a full-time student, maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher, demonstrate leadership skills and performed community service.

“We are extremely pleased to be selected as their October School of the Month,” said Mautra Staley Jones, Langston University’s Vice President for Institutional Advancement and External Affairs. “The Tom Joyner Foundation is a proud supporter of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the School of the Month program was designed to raise critical dollars to support HBCUs such as Langston University.”

“This is an excellent opportunity to share Langston University’s storied history on a national platform,” said Jones.

Langston University is a public historically black college and university enrolling a close-knit community of under 3,000 students. Founded in 1897, LU is located in rural Logan County and has urban campuses in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. LU has been recognized as a top institution of higher learning for affordability, ranking number three among all Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the U.S., according to AffordableSchools.net. Langston offers more than 40 associate, bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs across six academic colleges. To learn more, visit us online at http://www.langston.edu.

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