PRABA LEAP

The MA in special education with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis is a two-year Master’s degree program and prepares scholars to serve children and youth with high-intensity needs. The program is designed to prepare scholars to become Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and to provide socially valid, culturally and linguistically responsive, evidence-based services for students who have Autism or Emotional Behavior Disorder and high-intensity behavioral needs. 

PRABA LEAP is a federally-funded training grant designed to provide financial and mentoring support for 14 scholars to earn their MA in special education with an emphasis in applied behavior analysis. Funded scholars will be multilingual from racially and ethnically diverse groups or have a disability and will include two cohorts of students from Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, international students do not qualify for PRABA LEAP funding. 

Focus will be on rigorous preparation, collaboration with community partners, and multi-level mentoring to prepare scholars to support improved long-term outcomes for children from diverse backgrounds. To date, students who have graduated from our program have a 100% pass rate on the BCBA exam. 

Applicants interested in being supported by the PRABA LEAP training grant should submit an additional letter of application to PRABA LEAP with their other application materials in the special education application. In the letter, candidates should describe their commitment to supporting culturally and linguistically diverse students who have high-intensity behavioral needs, working as a BCBA in a high-need educational setting, and socially valid approaches to ABA service delivery. 

Applications are due December 1.