Federal funds to train more school counselors and psychologists
H.R. 3534 — Mental Health in Schools Excellence Program Act of 2025 · Filed by Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) · 16 cosponsors · Introduced May 21, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a federal matching-grant program where the Department of Education will pay up to 50% of graduate school costs for students pursuing degrees in school-based mental health fields (school psychology, counseling, social work, etc.), provided their graduate institution matches the federal contribution dollar-for-dollar. The program prioritizes students who received Pell Grants as undergraduates, aiming to expand the workforce of mental health professionals in schools.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a federal-institutional matching grant to subsidize graduate education in school mental health professions. It is a workforce-development and public-health measure, not a regulatory or commercial carve-out.
What the text implies
- The program's success depends on graduate institutions' willingness to match federal funds; institutions with weaker endowments or lower tuition revenue may be unable to participate, potentially concentrating benefits in wealthier schools.
- By prioritizing Pell Grant recipients, the program may inadvertently create a two-tier system where lower-income students receive subsidized training while higher-income peers do not, which could affect career outcomes and professional networks.
- The definition of 'school-based mental health field' includes a catch-all category ('any other field...as determined by Secretary'), which grants the Department of Education discretionary authority to expand eligible programs without further legislative action.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens—particularly lower-income students and families in under-resourced school districts—benefit from expanded access to mental health services in schools and reduced barriers to entering mental health professions. The program directly addresses a documented shortage of school-based mental health providers, a public health need.
Who stands to gain
- graduate institutions offering school psychology, counseling, and social work programs
- students from lower-income backgrounds pursuing mental health degrees
Named in the bill
Department of Education, National Association of School Psychologists, American Psychological Association, Council on Social Work Education, Higher Education Act of 1965, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
Where it stands
16 cosponsors: 16 Democrats.
- May 21, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 21, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $70,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 62 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Brian Fitzpatrick, the sponsor, reported $2,362,211 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- People for the American Way — $50,000 on 1 filing
- National Alliance on Mental Illness — $20,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jul 2, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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