The Michigan Earn, Learn, and Serve in Schools (Mi-ELSiS) program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The program's purpose is to increase the number of school-based mental health service providers (school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists) working in Michigan’s high-need schools. Our goal over the five-year grant period is to support 165 graduate students from training to full-time employment.
Each Mi-ELSiS grant participant receives a $20K stipend, distributed in three installments, in exchange for completing graduate training at a high-need school in one of our partner local educational agencies (LEAs) and working at any high-need school in Michigan for at least one year post-graduation. Each local school site supervisor receives a $2K stipend for each Mi-ELSiS student that they supervise during the student’s graduate training.
In year 1 of the grant program, we had 30 graduate student participants. These graduate students are vetted by our five university partners: Central Michigan University’s Counseling program (School Counseling concentration), Grand Valley State University’s School Psychology program, Michigan State University’s School Psychology program, University of Michigan’s Master of Social Work program (School Social Worker specialization), and Wayne State University’s Master of Social Work program (School Social Work focus area). We distributed $459K to the student participants and $68K to the students’ site supervisors in high-need schools.
Year 1 students completed their required fieldwork/internships/practica training at high-need schools within our Local Educational Agency (LEA) partners, at Cedar Springs Public Schools, Gratiot-Isabella RESD, Jackson County ISD, and Wayne RESA. Currently, year 1 students are either preparing to graduate or have graduated. Graduated participants are beginning full-time jobs as school counselors, school social workers, or school psychologists in fall 2024.
We are reviewing applications for year 2 of the program. We hope to accept 33 new graduate students for this upcoming year. Applicants will be notified of our decisions on a rolling basis until all the “spots” are filled. If you are in one of the graduate programs listed above and are interested in applying, please contact your program coordinators to learn more!
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