Is the Baer Reintegration Scholarship Still Accepting Applications?

The Baer Reintegration Scholarships are ending. According to the announcement on reintegration.com, this is the program's final year, and it will conclude after the 2026–27 academic year due to a loss of funding. If you are considering applying, treat the 2026–27 cycle as the last opportunity — and verify the current application status directly through the Center for Reintegration before relying on any deadline.

What the announcement says

The Center for Reintegration states plainly that "this will be the final year of the Baer Reintegration Scholarships." The stated reason is the loss of funding, not a change in mission or eligibility. The program will wrap up after the 2026–27 academic year.

The announcement also notes that the program ran for nearly three decades and supported hundreds of individuals. It describes the closure as the end of a chapter rather than a pause, which is why prospective applicants should not assume the scholarship will return in a later cycle.

Why the program is ending

Funding is the stated cause. The announcement credits Eli Lilly with thirteen foundational years of support, and the Sidney R. Baer Jr. Foundation — along with other donors — with carrying the program forward beginning in 2016. In recent years, the announcement says, economic challenges made it impossible to secure the funding needed to continue.

This matters for applicants because it means the end date is tied to a funding decision, not to a temporary gap that might be reversed. Plan around the 2026–27 academic year as the final cycle.

What the program supported

The scholarship was aimed at people rebuilding their lives while living with serious mental health conditions. The announcement specifically names schizophrenia and bipolar disorder among the conditions scholars lived with, and describes scholars completing trade programs, earning college degrees, and going on to law school and medical school.

The Center for Reintegration's own description frames its work as helping people with mental illnesses pursue a meaningful life through reintegration. The scholarship was one expression of that mission.

If you want to apply or confirm status

The announcement does not publish application dates, eligibility rules, or a final deadline in the material available here. Because the program is closing, those details may change or be limited.

To confirm whether applications are still open:

1. Go to reintegration.com and look for the current scholarship or application information.
2. Use the contact address listed on the site — [email protected] — to ask directly whether the 2026–27 cycle is accepting applications and what the deadline is.
3. If you receive no response or the application page is inactive, treat the program as closed for new applicants and look for other funding sources.

Do not assume a deadline from a prior year still applies. The final-year status is the single most important fact for anyone planning to apply.

What to do if the program has closed

If the scholarship is no longer accepting applications, the practical step is to look for other programs that fund education or training for people living with serious mental health conditions. The announcement itself points to the broader lesson the program's leadership drew from three decades of work: recovery is not a solitary journey, and community, high-quality care, and belief in one another matter.

That framing is useful when searching for alternatives — look for organizations that combine financial support with community and care, rather than funding alone.

Key facts at a glance

The safest approach for anyone interested: confirm directly with the Center for Reintegration before investing time in an application, and treat the 2026–27 academic year as the end of the road for this program.