Department of Health and Human Services: Health Careers Opportunity Program

Eligible entities must be located within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The purpose of this grant program is to assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter a health profession through the development of academies that will support and guide them through the educational pipeline.  Based on Section 739 of the Public Health Service Act, academies are expected to focus on: 1) promoting the recruitment of qualified individuals  from economically or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds into health professions, including allied health programs; 2) improving retention, matriculation and graduation rates by implementing tailored enrichment programs designed to address the academic and social needs of economically or educationally disadvantaged students; and 3) providing opportunities for community-based health professions training in primary care settings, emphasizing experiences in rural and underserved communities.

The National HCOP Academies will focus on three key milestones of education: 1) high school graduation, and matriculation  into a two or four-year college/university (including allied health professions programs); 2) graduation from a two-year or four-year college/university (including allied health professions programs); and 3) matriculation into graduate-level health professions programs, retention and completion of a graduate-level health professions or allied health professions program (e.g., post-baccalaureate programs).