There are several resources for those needing financial assistance to attend classes at SPSI.
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APsA Candidate Assistance Fund
The APsA Candidate Assistance Fund provides loans up to $5,000 to candidates training to be psychoanalysts. The loans, to be repaid within a maximum of six years, are made from a revolving fund so repayment is critical in order to continue making loans. Currently, between five and seven loans are made annually.
For more information, click here.
Interest-Free Loans to IPA Candidates
In 2004 the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) launched an appeal to its members for funds to offer loans to IPA Candidates. Since then the IPA has increased the amount available considerably. The same amount is available to each of the three IPA geographical regions.
In order to be eligible for loan consideration, applicants must be:
- IPA Candidates – an IPA Candidate is one studying at an IPA recognised institute or under an IPA sponsoring committee and undergoing a course that will lead to membership in the related IPA Society and thus the IPA itself.
- In good standing with their training institute
- Have at least one active psychoanalytic supervised treatment at the time of application – an active supervised treatment means that you are already seeing a patient in a supervised psychoanalysis.
For detailed information and to apply, visit the IPA website.
Deferred Tuition Program
SPSI offers a need-based deferred tuition program available to all active academic associations and candidates in good academic and ethical standing.
The total amount of deferred tuition that SPSI can accommodate in any given year will depend on both SPSI’s financial circumstances and the number of applicants for deferred tuition. The cap on deferred tuition is two years per applicant.
Deferred tuition is interest-free and requires repayment in full within two years of graduation. The deferred tuition is considered a loan and the borrower signs a promissory note detailing the terms of the loan.
Prior to applying to SPSI for the Deferred Tuition Program, applicants must first engage with the APsA Candidate Assistance Fund.
If an applicant is determined to be eligible for APsA’s Candidate Assistance Fund, they must apply to the program prior to being eligible for Deferred Tuition.
If an applicant is not eligible to apply for the APsA Candidate Assistance Fund, they may still apply to the SPSI Deferred Tuition Program.
Generally, an applicant does not need to demonstrate their financial need for the SPSI Deferred Tuition Program. However, in a situation where there may be multiple applications and limited funds, an applicant may be asked to demonstrate financial need.
If interested, an applicant should submit a written request to the Board of Directors. A new application is required for each academic year. The application deadline is August 31st, preceding the start of each academic year. Please contact the SPSI office for further details.
Collective Scholarship Program
This program provides scholarships bi-annually to eligible candidates in the form of tuition reductions.
It’s missions are to:
- Expand access to psychoanalysis in the broader community, in particular for individuals who have been harmed by trauma, specifically marginalization, racism, bigotry and/or poverty. The committee will provide tuition/dues reductions to offset the cost to candidates to take on these types of patients who otherwise could not afford psychoanalysis.
- Expand access to psychoanalytic training and broaden the community of psychoanalysts by assisting with tuition costs of Candidates who are people of color (BIPOC) through tuition reduction.
Regarding Mission #1, assistance will be available for those Candidates who are working with control case patients who meet the following criteria:
- The patient is in psychoanalysis at a frequency of 3-5 days per week.
- The case has been approved as a Control Case (adult or child) by two Consulting Analysts.
- The patient is being seen at a reduced fee with priority given in the following order:
- Those being seen at $0-25 per session.
- Those being seen at $26-50 per session.
- Those being seen at $51-75 per session.
Candidates with BIPOC patients who meet these criteria will be given priority. If there are more applications than we have money available for that year, we will randomly draw Candidate names from the pool of applicants whose cases meet these criteria.
For those who receive awards, reductions to their tuition invoices will be made to reflect the award amount. Should your control case terminate, you will not be required to return any of the tuition reduction you have already received; instead, just inform us of the termination and we will end the tuition reduction beginning the next trimester, after the termination date. If your patient reduces frequency to fewer than 3 days per week but you sense that they will likely return to an analytic frequency, then your reduction will continue as planned.
Regarding Mission #2, tuition assistance will be made available and applied to the tuition costs of selected BIPOC Candidates at the start of each trimester over the academic calendar year (9 months).
Beginning with the 2024-2025 academic year, we will fund selected applications for tuition reductions and scholarships according to the following schedule:
- First Award: Applications due October 1st. Review will happen at the Committee’s October meeting. Awards given in December.
- Second Award: Applications due April 1st. Review will happen at the Committee’s April meeting. Awards given in May.
To apply, complete the Collective Scholarship Application Form and return it to the Administrator by the dates noted above.
Note: the Collective Scholarship Program is a relatively new program at SPSI with a relatively small endowment. We welcome candidate input and opinions to any of our members. We also invite you to join our committee!