The Workforce Shortage Student Assistance Grant (WSSAG) program
is for students who plan on working in specific career/occupational programs
upon graduation. Eligible fields include: child care, human services,
teaching, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, social work, and public
service.
APPLICATION
Who may apply: Current high school
seniors, full-time and part-time, degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate
students enrolled in an eligible accredited Maryland postsecondary institution.
How to apply: Complete the Workforce
Shortage Student Assistance Grant application online at https://mdcaps.mhec.state.md.us (application
instructions are below) and submit official transcripts from all institutions
you have ever attended. To be considered based on need, students must file the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at www.fafsa.gov for the
application year. The FAFSA is not required; however, it will be used to
determine the order in which students will be awarded.
Certain majors may require additional documentation, which will
be noted on the application.
When to apply: Complete and submit the
WSSAG application and all supporting documents by July 2.
Faxed documents are not acceptable and must be received in
office by close of business on July 2. Documents postmarked on July 2 will not
be accepted.
Eligible majors: Eligible majors and
employment fields will be determined by the Workforce Shortage Advisory Council
biennially and will address statewide and regional workforce needs.
Employment fields may be limited to certain occupational areas within a
field. Eligible majors and employment fields for academic year 2018-2019
are listed below.
Major/Service Area A:
Hattie N. Harrison Memorial Scholarship (Child Development or
Early Childhood Education): Recipients must become employed full-time
in the State of Maryland as a director or senior staff member in a licensed
Maryland childcare center or as a licensed family day care provider in
Maryland. You may NOT be a teacher to serve this obligation.
Major/Service Area B:
Ida G. and L. Leonard Ruben Scholarship (Human Services Degree
Programs): Aging services, counseling, disability services, mental
health, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology,
rehabilitation, social work, special education, supported employment,
vocational rehabilitation, or, any other concentration in the healing arts or
programs providing support services to individuals with special needs including
child welfare and juvenile services, and the alcohol and drug workforce.
Recipients must be employed in a Maryland community-based program that is
licensed by the Developmental Disabilities Administration or approved by
the Department of Health or certified by the Office of Health Care
Quality; or in a residential program that is licensed by the Department of
Human Services or the Department of Juvenile Services. Recipients must be a
direct service employee or provide first-line supervision of employees who
provide habilitation, rehabilitation, residential, or related community support
services to individuals with developmental disabilities, mental health
disorders, or who are dependent on alcohol or drugs; or who serve
children in the custody of a local Department of Social Services or in any
residential childcare program licensed by the Department of Human Services or
the Department of Juvenile Services.
Major/Service Area C:
Sharon Christa McAuliffe Scholarship (Education):
Approved teacher education program leading to certification in a critical
shortage field, which includes:
Chemistry (grades 7-12);Chinese (grades7-12); computer science
(7-12); earth/space science (7-12); ESOL (preK-12); Family and Consumer
Sciences (7-12); mathematics (7-12); physical science (7-12); physics (7-12);
Spanish (7-12); special education: [infant/primary (birth-grade 3);
elementary/middle (grades 1-8); secondary/adult (grades 6-adult); hearing
impaired; severely & profoundly disabled; or visually impaired]; and
technology education.
NOTE: Elementary Education is not a critical
area. Physical Education is not a health occupation.
Recipients must become certified teachers in Maryland in the
certification area in which they applied and were awarded and then be employed
in a Maryland public or private elementary or secondary school as a full-time
classroom teacher in that area.
Major/Service Area D:
Parren J. Mitchell Public Service Scholarship - Nursing:
Recipients must be employed as a nurse in a Maryland licensed
hospital, adult day care center, nursing home, public health agency, home
health agency, an eligible institution of postsecondary education that awards
nursing degrees or diplomas, or other organization authorized by the Department
of Health Secretary (employment as a nurse at a health maintenance organization
(HMO) or a physician’s private office does not meet the
service requirement).
Major/Service Area E:
Physical Therapy; Physical Therapy Assistant; Occupational
Therapy; Occupational Therapy Assistant:
Recipients must be employed as a therapist or therapy
assistant to handicapped children in a public school in Maryland or
to handicapped children placed in an approved non public education program
or to provide physical or occupational therapy in a State therapeutic hospital
determined by the Department of Health Secretary to have a severe
shortage of physical or occupational therapists.
Major/Service Area F:
William Donald Schaefer Scholarship - Law (designed to prepare
individuals for a career in law):
Recipients must be employed in
Maryland public service to assist in providing legal services to low-income
residents in the State. Eligible employment is defined as employment in
government at any level, public interest organizations, public schools, and
nonprofit organizations under 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, such as those whose primary purposes are to help needy or disadvantaged
persons, or disabled individuals, or to protect the environment.
Major/Service Area G:
Ruth M. Kirk Public Social Work Scholarship:
Recipients must be employed as a social worker in the public or
nonprofit sectors under 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
in which there is a shortage of qualified practitioners to low-income or
underserved residents or areas of the State.
Major/Service Area H:
Parren J. Mitchell Public Service Scholarship - Other (majors
other than nursing, social work and law) (designed to prepare individuals for a
career in public service):Recipients must be employed in services in
the public or nonprofit sectors under 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 in which there is a shortage of qualified practitioners to
low-income or underserved residents or areas of the State.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
You and your parents (if you are a dependent student) must be
Maryland residents. You must enroll at a two-year or four-year Maryland college
or university as a full-time (12+ credits per semester) or part-time (6-11
credits per semester) degree seeking undergraduate student, or a full-time
(9+ credits per semester) or part-time (6-8 credits per semester) degree
seeking graduate student. Audited courses cannot be used to reach the minimum
credit hours for full-time or part-time status.
NOTE: Individuals who have received scholarships in prior years
under MHEC's former career/occupational programs (Child Care Provider;
Developmental Disabilities, Mental Health, Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice
Workforce Tuition Assistance Program) will continue to receive their
awards as long as they remain eligible. Students who receive one of these
former awards are not eligible to also receive a WSSAG award.
MERIT AND/OR NEED-BASED CRITERIA
Both merit and need-based criteria will be used when making awards.
Applicants will be ranked by Grade Point Average (GPA) and then by need within
each occupational field. Those students with the greatest need within
each GPA range will be awarded first.
To determine a student’s merit ranking, transcripts will be required.
To determine the GPA ranking of students, a cumulative, unweighted GPA will be
used. If necessary, GPAs will be recalculated to be considered on a
standardized 4.0 scale.
To determine a student’s need ranking, a Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be filed by the applicant and received by OSFA
by the March 1 deadline; however, it is not mandatory to file
the FAFSA to be eligible to receive an award.
AWARD AMOUNT
Award amounts are set at the statutory minimum and are based on
the type of institution and the student’s enrollment status. The award is
$2,000 per year if attending a Maryland community college full-time (12+
credits per semester) or $1,000 per year if part-time (6-11 credits per
semester). The award is $4,000 per year if attending a Maryland four-year
institution full-time (12+ credits per semester for undergraduate; 9+ credits
per semester for graduate) or $2,000 per year if part-time (6-11 credits per
semester for undergraduate; 6-8 credits per semester for graduate).
The total dollar amount of all State awards may not exceed a
student's cost of attendance as determined by the school's financial aid office
or $28,000, whichever is less.
Funds may not be available to award all eligible applicants.
RENEWING AN AWARD
Your award will be automatically renewed for up to the maximum
of 5 years as long as you continue to meet all the eligibility requirements and
maintain the satisfactory academic progress standards of the institution you
are attending.
SERVICE OBLIGATION
You must sign and return a promissory note agreeing to begin
fulfillment of your service obligation in the employment field for which your
award was received within one year of completing your degree (the degree for
which you received the award, not a subsequent degree). Employment fields
for academic year 2018-2019 are listed above.
If you work full-time, you must fulfill your obligation at a
rate of one-year for each year that you received the scholarship, even if you
were enrolled on a part-time basis for some of the semesters. If you work
part-time, you must fulfill your service obligation at a rate of two-years for
each year the scholarship was received, even if you were enrolled on a
part-time basis. Full-time employment is considered to be at least 35 hours per
week and part-time is at least 20 hours per week.
The service obligation begins after completion
of your degree program, and cannot be fulfilled prior to completion. If you
hold this scholarship with any other award requiring a service obligation, you
must perform your service in consecutive years.
Service Obligation Questionnaire:
CONDITIONS OF AWARD:
The Workforce
Shortage Student Assistance Grant program regulations have been published
online under the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR). Please click the
following link to access the program
