OU’s PRIME program paid for future school counselors, behavior analysts and social workers to get graduate degrees in exchange for serving two years in a rural high-need school for every year they received funding. PRIME stood for Project Rural Innovation for Mental Health Enhancement.
The program was funded with a $5.6 million federal grant through the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It was supposed to last from 2023 to 2027, but the grant was not continued and funding ended in December. It is one of more than 200 mental health training programs across the country whose funding ended.
According to a July 2025 analysis by StateImpact, 53 of Oklahoma schools considered “rural” by the National Center for Education Statistics have no counselor. In Oklahoma, the school counselor ratio is 1:361. The American School Counselor Association recommends at least one counselor for every 250 students. Only three states meet this threshold.
OU’s PRIME program aimed to chip away at the shortage of mental health providers in Oklahoma schools — more than three-quarters of which serve rural communities.
Brittany Hott is the associate director of the Institute for Community and Society Transformation at OU and oversaw PRIME. She said the program’s three years of work are being felt across the state.
“Our schools saw reduced suspension, reduced time out of school,” Hott said. “Their attendance went up. We saw preliminary reading and math gains.
“Our administrators have hope. By implementing some of the cost-effective or no-cost behavioral support strategies and counseling strategies and services, we saw a quick impact. And hopefully we’ll continue to see it.”
Due to PRIME program support, 49 students have received school-based mental health training in counseling, applied behavior analysis and social work.
To date, 31 students have earned degrees, seven students are completing internships or practicums and are on track to complete degrees in May, and 11 students are currently enrolled in school counseling and applied behavior analysis programs.
Before news of the funding ending reached Hott’s desk, the program had already accepted its next round of students — 10 counselors, 12 behavior analysts and five social workers. The PRIME funding had a long waitlist. For behavior analysts alone, there were 56 applications for 12 slots.
After being notified, Hott said she told the upcoming cohort. While some decided to continue with their degree self-funded, others did not.
“It has created a hardship, because it is hard to do your studies and work full-time and take on a second job to get through,” Hott said. “So there were definitely students who could not [self-fund their degrees], who were well qualified, who would have been amazing practitioners and served in areas that are hard to staff.”
Hott said, though the federal funding to grant the tuition waivers no longer exists, she is hopeful the mission will continue — one that now relies on potential donors or grants.
“Any [funding] source. We would welcome the potential to partner to continue this work, because it’s critical for our kids and families,” Hott said.
After graduation, PRIME participants are tracked in their employment, Hott said. According to their data, program graduates are still working in rural Oklahoma schools. She said the first three years of cohorts will “pay dividends” to provide mental health support to students who need it most, and so far, the data say those providers are staying put.
“These are communities where our practitioners have lived, played, worked, graduated,” Hott said. “It’s very much by Oklahomans, for Oklahomans. Our students and graduates are dedicated to the communities that we’re serving. They don’t want to move out of Oklahoma. They want to serve their communities and their kids and families where they are. And that’s the strength of, quite frankly, rural America and rural Oklahoma.”
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