Vermont State University: scholarships, VSAC loan program doubled counseling enrollment; asks legislature to continue funding

Vermont State University officials told the House Human Services Committee that state-funded critical‑occupation scholarships and the VSAC Mental Health Forgivable Loan Program helped double enrollment in the university’s clinical mental health counseling programs and urged the legislature to continue funding the forgivable loan program before it lapses.

Anna Marie Ciafari, director of the master of science in clinical mental health counseling at Vermont State University, said the combination of the critical‑occupation scholarships and the VSAC forgivable loan program “have helped double enrollment in our programs over the last 3 years.” She described the programs as the principal reason enrollment at the university’s two counseling program formats grew from roughly 80–85 students in fall 2018 to about 243 Vermonters several years later, and estimated the system now serves…