Skip to content

Academics

General WDI FAQs

Please find Student FAQs regarding the WDI on this page. Additional FAQs can be found here. Please note: From 2021-2025, the University of Washington received the student’s financial information and crafted each student’s conditional scholarship agreement. For Fall 2026, Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) will administer the behavioral health/mental health conditional scholarships. The Ballmer Behavioral Health Scholarship Program offered conditional scholarships to prospective clinical mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, and social work graduate programs who commit to working at a target Medicaid-receiving community behavioral health agency or tribal health center in Washington state between 2021-2025. Future WDI conditional scholarships will be offered by Washington Student Achievement Council. Learn more at: Behavioral Health Conditional Scholarship | WSAC

2026 Timeline & Application

Accessible Accordion

The Ballmer Behavioral Health Scholarship Program offered conditional scholarships to prospective clinical mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, and social work graduate programs who commit to working at a target Medicaid-receiving community behavioral health agency or tribal health center in Washington state between 2021-2025. Future WDI conditional scholarships will be offered by Washington Student Achievement Council. Learn more at: Behavioral Health Conditional Scholarship | WSAC

If applying for Fall 2026, behavioral health conditional scholarship information will be available at: https://wsac.wa.gov/bhcs. For the 2026 Academic Year, the closing date is February 25th, 2026.

UW SSW MSW Admissions and WSAC Program Coordinators will host two information sessions, one in January and one in February. More information can be found with the MSW Admissions Office.

Currently the incoming Fall 2025 cohort is the last cohort funded for a conditional scholarship. Fall 2026 applications will be selected and awarded through Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC).

For information regarding the incoming Fall 2026 cohort, please visit Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) at: Behavioral Health Conditional Scholarship | WSAC

Guidelines for Fall 2026 will soon be available via: Behavioral Health Conditional Scholarship | WSAC. Because the conditional grant award amount is based on the last-dollar-in calculation, you are encouraged to talk with your admissions and financial aid offices regarding your cost-of-attendance and estimated conditional grant amount.

Traineeships have conditional requirements with competing practicum and post-graduation commitments. For example, CWTAP recipients have employment requirements with DCYF, and the Workforce Development Initiative has post-employment and practicum requirements with Community Behavioral Health/ Tribal Health Agencies. Due to competing post-graduation priorities, you would not be able to pursue multiple traineeships simultaneously.

Programmatic Questions

Accessible Accordion

Students in their foundational year (first year of the Full-Time Two-Year Program, second year of the Part-Time Program) are required to participate in foundation year CAPS training. Otherwise, there are no practicum-specific requirements for generalist students.

Goals of the WDI include (1) Increasing the number of well-trained master’s level clinicians committed to working in community based behavioral health agencies; (2)  Creating better alignment between graduate school training and behavioral health workplace demands & (3) Reducing clinical staff turnover. As such, students are encouraged to select the clinical track.

Community behavioral health agencies provide essential substance use and mental health treatment to adults and children using public funding, such as Medicaid. Because behavioral health is integral to physical health (and vice versa), community behavioral health agencies play a critical role in creating healthy and thriving communities. We are focused on increasing the number, skills, and diversity of master’s level students who wish to begin or expand their careers providing community behavioral health services serving children/youth and adults in outpatient community mental health settings. Here is the list of the WDI’s approved agencies.

The Workforce Development Initiative offers advanced skill training to future clinicians. The Community for Advanced Practice Skills (CAPS) operates like a “community of practice” that brings together WDI trainees (master-level students), practicum instructors, and local experts for collaborative learning and practice in specialized skills relevant for community behavioral health. Attendance at synchronous sessions is a scholarship requirement for WDI recipients. Current students can find CAPS Overview, a Practicum Instructor FAQ, Student FAQ, and the course calendar here. You may find a CAPS Learning Map for the 2025-2026 AY here.

Because this is a conditional scholarship and not a traditional merit scholarship, the student must repay the funds if placement is not a WDI-approved community behavioral health agency in Washington state.

In the event that a conditional scholarship recipient/student is in default, either by disenrolling in the academic program or through voluntary or involuntary termination of employment, the student may be referred for collections.

If you are doing a concurrent-degree program, the same practicum and post-graduation requirement conditions will apply. Graduates must secure a job at a WDI-approved agency/program within two months of graduation date.

Post-Graduation WDI Questions

Accessible Accordion

If you are on track for an early graduation date different from what is found on your signed student-agreement, please ensure you are communicating changes with sswwdi@uw.edu, and your field faculty. Your distribution schedule for your scholarship may additionally change, and ensure you are speaking with sswwdi@uw.edu to ensure you are appropriately on track. Even if you graduate early in your final year, you must still complete your CAPS specialized training.

Once graduating, you must complete your post-graduation employment period in a WDI-approved agency, and will submit quarterly employment declarations in the SMApply Portal. You may still periodically engage in surveys distributed by WDI administrators during this post-graduation period.

If you are doing an Agency of Employment, or are employed with a WDI-agency while in the MSW program, please note that your post-graduation employment period will not start until the day after graduation. If your agency is WDI-approved, you may retain your current role.

The goals of the WDI are to increase the number of well-trained master’s level clinicians, reduce clinical staff turnover, Create better alignment between graduate school training and behavioral health workplace demands. We recognize that multiple job titles exist that meet these criteria, if you are uncertain if the position you are interested in meets the criteria, please contact sswwdi@uw.edu.

It depends on how the employer defines part time and full time. For example, some employers define “full time” as 40 hours and others define it as 32 hours.

If a graduate has a 36-month work commitment and decides to work part-time, they are required to work 72 months. If working a mix of full- and part-time, the commitment will be recalculated to match the time working.

Family and maternity leave are as the employer defines. If the employer says its employee is still employed during that leave, it is counted within your employment service period. If the employer says they are not employed, then those months are not counted towards the 36 months.

Yes, graduates may transfer sites/employers to another WDI-approved agency

Financial & Conditional Grant Questions

Accessible Accordion

All our Ballmer Workforce Development Initiative (WDI) Recipients with UW-Seattle meet the following criteria:

  • Demonstrate financial need: To be eligible for the WDI, all applicants have demonstrated financial need as indicated by completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Washington Application for State Financial Aid (WASFA) for the current academic year. The amount offered to recipients in their contract will remain consistent across all future years unless students petition for a re-evaluation of need(BOLD). If students have a change in their financial status, we recommend they speak with OSFA@uw.edu to start the re-evaluation process.

  • Master of Social Work Student: All recipients with UW-Seattle School of Social Work are on the MSW Track.

  • Commit to completing their specialized practicum placement in a WDI-approved Community-Behavioral Health and/or Tribal Health Agency in Washington State.

  • Commit to a post-graduation period of 18 months (for Advanced Standing students) or 36 months (for students on the Part-Time Program or Full-Time Two-Year Program Tracks).

    • Commit to maintain legal residency in Washington state for at least 18 months to three years following graduation.

    • In and out-of-state students, and applicants with DACA status all meet eligibility requirements. When pursuing traineeships with post-graduation employment pieces, international students should consider the duration and type of visa they hold before pursuing, as most international students do not have guaranteed work authorization after education visas expire. In those cases, international students are advised not to apply for traineeships.