Addiction counseling jobs are tremendously rewarding when it comes to the work you do. In terms of paychecks, you will make a solid middle-class income that you can be proud of, but it won’t afford you the high-flying Instagram model lifestyle.
It’s also true that people drawn to these positions aren’t always coming from the kind of backgrounds where a college savings for the kids was in the budget.
The most effective and most driven substance abuse counselors often have a history of addiction themselves, or come from families that know the pain of substance abuse all too well.
If you found you way here to this guide, it’s a safe bet that you and your family don’t have the financial resources to cut tuition checks two or three times a year without blinking. With the typical annual cost of university studies coming in at over $20,000 according to 2023 data from the National Center for Education Statistics, you’re going to need a little help when it comes to paying for the degree required to get your counseling license.
This list of resource will help explain your financial aid options as well as offer some direct suggestions for available scholarship, grant, and loan forgiveness programs available to addiction counseling students.
Exploring All Your Options for Financial Aid as a Substance Abuse Counseling Student
You’re not alone when it comes to running into challenges in paying for college. NCES found in 2021 that almost 40 percent of first-time, full-time undergraduate students turned to some form of student loans. Since a big chunk of those individuals probably already received grant money to assist in paying for school, that tells you that there was a still a gap between what they could come up with and what they had to pay.
The average amount of student loans taken out by undergraduate students in 2021 was $7,700.
Fortunately, there is a lot of help out there to close that gap… if you can figure it out.
That assistance generally comes from three different buckets:
- Grants
Free financial assistance, typically directly from state or federal governments, or your college itself on the basis of financial need. Pell grants or Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity grants are examples of this aid.
- Scholarships
Similar to grants in that the money is offered to help pay for your schooling with no repayment required, scholarships typically have additional requirements beyond need. These can include belonging to qualifying ethnic groups, competing in essay challenges, or pursuing particular fields of study.
- Loans
Loans have few requirements other than obligating you to pay the money back, with interest, after graduation. Almost anyone can qualify for student loans, which are offered both by private entities and government but with different terms. Some substance abuse counseling jobs may qualify for loan forgiveness in return for working in certain high-need areas, however.
Both grants and scholarship awards may involve keeping a certain minimum GPA and staying enrolled in school; failure to comply with the terms may mean you need to pay the money back.
Instead of trying to decipher all these funding sources and the requirements and availability yourself, your best bet is to get cozy with your school’s financial aid office as soon as possible. By filing a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), you can provide them and various federal agencies with the data needed to figure out your eligibility for various funding.
Most students end up using some combination of all three types of funding to get through a degree in addiction counseling. While it’s possible to find scholarships that cover the entire cost of attendance, those are very rare. It’s much more common to put multiple smaller scholarships together, often with government grants, and take up the slack with some combination of loans and your own or your families money. You may even have access to other funding sources, like the GI Bill® if you or one of your parents is a qualified veteran.
Scholarship Options for Students in Substance Use Disorder and Related Degree Programs
You have a wealth of scholarship options to help you pay for college degrees in substance abuse counseling.
Many scholarships aimed at counseling or behavioral health studies more generally are also available to students of addiction counseling degree programs.
There are various sources for these forms of financial assistance, so we have broken down the list by categories. That will help you narrow down where to look, and to understand how individual recipients are often chosen.
Individual Scholarships for Mental Health or Substance Abuse Counseling Degrees
These awards are often smaller than those that come from the big professional groups, but in a sense they are more meaningful: they are typically funded directly by people who have lost loved ones to addiction and overdose.
There are really too many of these to list, and they come and go frequently. But one typical example is the Brian J. Boley Memorial Scholarship. It’s aimed at high school seniors or undergraduate students who are just starting on their path to mental health or addiction counseling, this award is for $500 in the memory of a young man who passed away at 21 from mental illness and addiction.
Many of these are restricted to states or areas where the individual being recognized was from, but some are also awarded nationally. You’ll need to sort through the options available in your area and for your school.
Colleges and Universities Offer Generous Scholarships for Addiction Counseling Students
Many of the best scholarships are those that come from individual colleges or universities that offer substance abuse counseling degrees. These are often established by endowments that are specific to the school, so they aren’t open to students who attend other programs. That’s a big advantage if you meet eligibility requirements, because it cuts down considerably on competition. And more than likely, you will meet the requirements for at least some of the awards offered through the school you attend.
There is no master list for scholarships at individual colleges, but even before you’re enrolled you can explore the options available at the schools you’re considering.
It’s another reason that your school’s financial aid office should be your first stop in searching for financial resources—they will know better than anyone what kind of opportunities you will be eligible for that are unique to their university.
Addiction Treatment Organizations Offer Lucrative Assistance to Lucky Students
Both private addiction treatment companies and big nonprofit professional organizations concerned with addiction treatment offer scholarships to get students into the workforce. These are often among the easiest scholarships to find, but may require additional commitments. You may need to be a member of the organization, or be attending a specific type of addiction therapy program.
On the other hand, they are often well-funded and can wipe out a big chunk of your expenses if you are awarded one.
Beware Substance Abuse Scholarships That Are Not Educational Scholarships
It won’t surprise you that many of the populations that are most in need of substance use disorder therapy are those that are least able to pay for it. Many benefit and assistance programs exist to help those folks get the kind of treatment they need, and that you may eventually offer.
Confusingly, though, some of these programs are also called scholarships. So when you are out searching for scholarships for students earning addiction counseling degrees, many of the results you pull up won’t be for you at all.
These kinds of scholarship are usually offered by state or federal government agencies, or non-profits dedicated to supporting SUD rehabilitation.
While valuable for folks getting much-needed treatment, these are mostly a distraction for students who are looking for financial assistance in degree programs in substance abuse counseling. Be cautious as you search and make sure the offer you are looking at is for a school, not a rehab facility!
American Addiction Centers Behavioral Health Academic Scholarship
Offered intermittently, this scholarship is a $10,000 chunk split into one $5,000 and two $2,500 awards to students enrolled in nursing, counseling, psychology, social work, MFT, or other programs aimed at substance use disorder treatment. It can be applied to graduate or undergraduate studies, with an essay question as the primary factor.
NAADAC/NBCC Minority Fellowship Program
Funded by SAMHSA, The Association For Addiction Professionals and the National Board for Certified Counselors have combined to offer up to 43 master’s degree counseling fellowship of $15,000 each for addiction counseling students focused on services for underserved minority communities. In keeping with the generosity of the award, standards and requirements are strict, including committing to a full-time course load and having completed at least one semester of your master’s program before applying.
APA Predoctoral Fellowship in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
Not everyone ascends to the doctoral level in substance abuse counseling, but for those that do, this fellowship opportunity delivers an incredible level of financial support. For up to three years of your doctoral studies, this fellowship offers travel support, dissertation support, additional training opportunities, and financial assistance. It’s aimed at students who intend to focus on services to communities of color, requiring a commitment of at least two years of post-graduation service in that capacity. You also must attend an APA-accredited program.
NAADAC William L. White Scholarship
Another option from the Association for Addiction Professionals is this two-track award delivering $1,000 to one undergraduate student and $2,000 to one grad student each year. The scholarship is designed to promote more research in addiction studies, and so it’s competitive based on the best paper on an assigned topic. Winners are also recognized at the NAADAC annual conference, which means this is a scholarship that can boost not only your education but also your job opportunities.
“The Hope for Healing” FHE Health Annual College Scholarship | FHE Health
FHE Health, a Florida-based behavioral health providers, has an annual scholarship awarded to one graduate student and one undergraduate student in mental health or addiction studies. The scholarship awards $5,000 each to individuals offering the best essay in why they are pursuing substance abuse counseling as a career and how they plan to contribute to the field.
Elements Behavioral Health College Scholarship
Another essay-based scholarship for behavioral health students, this offering divides up $10,000 between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in undergraduate programs of any type. Although your major is not restricted, the essay challenge is typically oriented toward addiction and substance use disorder subjects. That should immediately make you a top contender.
Taking Advantage of Extensive Loan Repayment Programs Open to Substance Use Disorder Counselors
With strong demand for substance abuse counselors nationwide, many government agencies responsible for addressing the addiction crisis have been looking for ways to expand the pipeline for SUD education. At the same time, they want to direct those newly trained counselors to the parts of the country that need them the most.
One of the major levers they are using to accomplish both those goals at the same time are loan repayment programs.
These only apply if you have eligible, outstanding loans that were used toward your addiction counseling degree. But the advantage is that, unlike scholarships, you are guaranteed to receive the award if you qualify.
That award is the subsidized repayment of some or all of your outstanding college loans. In return, you generally have to work as a SUD counselor for marginalized populations or in areas that have few counseling resources available.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness | Federal Student Aid
The biggest program in the loan forgiveness game is PLSF, part of the larger Federal student aid system. It’s not tied to any specific type of degree or even to substance abuse counseling jobs. Instead, it’s based on your employer after graduation. These can be government agencies or non-profit organizations… including many that offer substance use disorder counseling services. You also must have a qualifying loan, and be working on a full-time basis. The program also doesn’t kick in immediately—you need to have made at least 120 qualifying monthly payments, after which the remaining balance on your loan will be forgiven.
NHSC Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Program
The National Health Service Corps offers up to $50,000 for full-time or $37,500 for part-time toward repaying loans for individuals in substance abuse counseling offering outpatient services to clients living in a health professional shortage area (HPSA) as designated by HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration). You will need to serve there for at least two years. One catch with this program is that you will have to be cross-licensed as an LPC or LCSW to be eligible—which means you’ll need at least a master’s degree.
NHSC Rural Community Loan Repayment Program
NHSC also runs a more general loan repayment program aimed at boosting staffing for rural areas that are underserved in various healthcare professions. SUD counselors are specifically covered under this one, no cross-licensing required. It will repay up to $100,000 for full-time or $50,000 for part-time service of three years at an approved rural treatment facility. Those include SAMHSA-certified opioid treatment programs, community health centers, clinics, private practices, and even school-based clinics.
State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP)
Finally, you can check into the NHSC’s state-based loan repayment program. Not all states participate, but in those that do, SUD counselors may be eligible for loan repayment assistance based on a minimum of two years of service in an HPSA in that state.
You will also find that many state and even local level professional organizations for addiction counselors offer their own scholarships, such as those from the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals. These can be quite lucrative, but you almost always have to be attending school in the state, and usually are required to be a member or student member of those organizations to be eligible. Opportunities will clearly vary depending on your location.
There are also various state departments of health that offer scholarships either aimed at healthcare professionals generally, or even addiction counselors specifically. The Colorado Health Service Corps Scholarship Program for Addiction Counselors is one example, requiring that you be a Colorado resident, pursuing an addiction counseling license, and committing to working in a HPSA in Colorado after graduation.
Other Funding Opportunities Exist for Your College Education Beyond Just Addiction Counseling Options
Finally, like any American college student, you’re likely to find there are many more general funding opportunities on your menu based on a whole range of different factors:
- Where you live or grew up, as with scholarships for graduates from particular high schools or offered by local businesses
- Your ethnicity or gender
- From the military if your parents served, or possibly from businesses where they currently work
- Other various competitive awards from your school or in your state for essay writing, grades, or other academic accomplishments
A particular subset of these scholarships that may be of interest are those that are aimed at individuals who have gone through challenges themselves in mental health or substance use disorders. The demographics of SUD counselors include a significant number of folks who are interested in the field because they themselves have received help with addiction.
If that’s the case, then scholarships like the Cade Reddington Be the Light Scholarship can give you another lift. Offering $1,000 each to two awardees who have been directly or indirectly affected by substance use, addiction, or mental health struggles, it’s a poignant reminder that not everyone survives to go to college. It also serves as a way to remember those who will need your help in the future.
It’s important to keep in mind that all forms of school funding are somewhat competitive, and also change from year to year. So you will want to do your best to stay current with the opportunities available and not hesitate when it comes to getting your applications in quick.