‘Free’ master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling seeks to fulfill dire need

BROOKINGS – The people who were among the first to be able to call themselves “counselors” were members of what’s now a little known specialization. The first counselors worked in schools, but the second were vocational rehabilitation counselors.

The profession started in the early 1900s. These counselors worked with those who were seriously injured by industrial machines, in a world war or by another cause and helped them find and get employment.

Today, the U.S., including the Northern Plains, is seeing a critical shortage of rehabilitation counselors.

Thanks to a series of grants, South Dakota State University offers a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling with tuition, fees and books all covered — meaning these counselors could get a graduate degree debt-free.

University wins fourth consecutive grant

The rehabilitation counseling program at State prepares students to help people with disabilities achieve their personal, employment and independent living goals. After graduation, students can work in vocational rehabilitation or pursue a license as a professional counselor.

It is a relatively young academic program. Alan Davis, now Professor Emeritus of Counseling and Human Development, started the program 20 years ago. Now, South Dakota State’s program is the only accredited program of its kind in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wyoming.

Davis was also the first to apply for and win a five-year South Dakota Long-term Rehabilitation Program grant from the U.S. Department of Education. He won three of these five-year grants in a row.

This fall, South Dakota State University will start its fourth consecutive grant, meaning students receiving funds from the previous grant will roll over into the new one. Their tuition, fees and books will be covered.

The only requirement for the grant money is that students commit to working two years in the field in a federal or state organization in a Plains state for every one year in the program.

No debts; great employment prospects

Gene Dockery is an assistant professor of counseling and the specialty track coordinator for rehabilitation counseling at South Dakota State.

“Education is expensive, and this is essentially a free degree. Not a lot of scholarships also cover fees and books,” Dockery said. “And when they get out, they’re almost guaranteed a job because of the shortage.”

Most graduates of this program will work with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation or as a counselor for a state agency. Several work at Veterans Affairs.

In South Dakota specifically, one of the largest employers is South Dakota’s Division of Rehabilitation Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Fulfilling SDSU’s land-grant mission

Jay Trenhaile is a psychologist with the South Dakota Division of Developmental Disabilities, an adjunct professor at South Dakota State University and former head of the counseling program. He is also the grant author of the new award.

“For a land-grant university, this is exactly the kind of program and grant success I would expect to see. As such a university, we’re supposed to be training our citizens to help serve and support each other. Rehabilitation fits really well into that,” Trenhaile said.

The grant opens up the program to more students.

“The fact that students can attend and have tuition and fees paid makes this an incredible opportunity for both our future students and the consumers they will serve in South Dakota,” he said.

Emphasis on rural students

South Dakota State offers a Master of Science in rehabilitation counseling and is one of the only such programs in the region.

Trenhaile says the program is looking for a specific kind of student.

“We need somebody passionate about working in the helping profession who wants to help individuals with disabilities,” he said.

One of the goals listed on the university’s grant application is to recruit and enroll eight students per year and up to 40 over the course of the grant.

That may be an easier target to hit thanks to a new digital delivery program, which the South Dakota Board of Regents just approved and will begin in fall 2026. These new online classes will target rural learners who can’t make it to Brookings.

“In a state like ours, we need to embrace rural. We need to embrace the fact that we have people out there who are at a distance,” Trenhaile said.

In addition to Trenhaile, the program owes its grant success to Alan Davis, who provided a grant-winning template to follow, Kristina Stulken, who is a college grant program specialist for the College of Education and Human Sciences, and Jill Thorngren, interim coordinator of the counseling and human resource development program.

In taking over the program, Dockery will also take over the future grant application process.

For more information: SDSU News • www.sdstate.edu

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