Free Tuition for Social Work Majors Through IV-E Scholarship

Every student fears the day they need to begin paying back their student loan debt, and most of the time scholarships only help mitigate the amount owed. There are the rare, exceptional scholarships which will pay the full tuition, but students usually need to fulfill a certain set of requirements in order to qualify for those scholarships. One such scholarship here at Concord is only available to those going to school for a Bachelor of Social Work degree, and is called the Public Social Services Scholarship, or IV-E for short.

    Why is it called IV-E? “IV-E” is in correlation to Title IV-E of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, which, according to childwelfare.gov, provided the first federal subsidies to encourage the adoption of children in the foster care system. Under Title IV-E, adoptive parents of special needs children will receive federal funds so long as the child meets a certain set of eligibility requirements. For more information about such requirements, please visit childwelfare.gov.

    Naturally, this scholarship can be great news for someone going into social work. However, there are very strict requirements that must be adhered to in order to qualify for this scholarship. For starters, a GPA of at least 2.5 must be maintained throughout the duration of receiving the scholarship, as well as a declaration of social work as the field of study; and before the application can even be submitted, students must have completed at least 30 credit hours, at least six of which will need to have been social work courses. Those approved for the scholarship are expected to pursue full-time course study to earn a Bachelors of Social Work (BSW), provide a copy of their transcript to the department every semester to prove their maintenance of a 2.5 GPA, and will need to have taken the following courses: Social Work 320 and Social Work 420, which are  Working with Children and Adolescents and Field Instruction, respectively.

    Students receiving the scholarship are almost guaranteed employment through the West Virginia Bureau of Human Services once they graduate, but this is also technically a requirement for the scholarship. So what does the student receive? This scholarship pays for all tuition and fees and provides the student with a $1000 stipend at the beginning of each semester which, in relative terms, is just as good as some of the checks distributed from check change to students without the need to pay those sums back after graduation. Funds for summer study, for those who want to graduate early or get caught up, may also be available upon inquiry.

    This scholarship, according to Dr. Joan Pendergast, the BSW Program Director, is designed to teach students how to deal with children, which is why SOWK 320 is a required course for the scholarship. So while this scholarship may seem like the deal of a lifetime to some, if students don’t want to be involved with children after graduation, then funding may need to come from somewhere else. This scholarship is also not guaranteed; applicants for the scholarship may be required to appear for an interview with a grant committee composed of administrative staff from the Department of Health and Human Resources.

    If you or someone you know may qualify for this scholarship, contact Dr. Sarah Whittaker at (304) 384-5228 during her office hours or look up the application online at http://www.concord.edu/social-work/sites/www.concord.edu.social-work/files/files/BSW_Public_IV-E_Scholarship_Application.pdf.