HEALTHCARE

Schoellkopfs expand funding for IU Columbus counseling center to boost services and trainee support

Tom and Barbara Schoellkopf made an additional gift to IU Columbus’ Mental Health Counseling Program and the Tom & Barbara Schoellkopf Community Counseling Center to fund enhanced clinical staffing, technology upgrades, scholarships and a paid internship, expanding training and low-cost counseling access in South Central Indiana.

BUSINESSINDY BRIEFBy BusinessIndy Editorial StaffCommentsPublished October 12, 2026 at 12:18 AM EDTLiving story · 2 sources

AI-generated illustration of the topic: Schoellkopfs expand funding for IU Columbus counseling center to boost services and trainee support — AI illustration · Not a photograph of the reported event.

Tom and Barbara Schoellkopf gave additional support to Indiana University Columbus’ Mental Health Counseling Program and the Tom & Barbara Schoellkopf Community Counseling Center, enabling enhanced clinical staffing, technology upgrades and expanded scholarship and internship support. The center, established by the Schoellkopfs in 2019, has hosted 1,452 therapy appointments and served 144 clients from IU Columbus, Ivy Tech, Purdue Polytechnic and surrounding communities.

IU Columbus says the center provides free and reduced-cost counseling while giving graduate students supervised clinical experience; it has provided 80 graduate students with real‑time observation and feedback and funds an annual paid internship. University officials, including program director Darrin Carr, say the Schoellkopfs’ continued investment is helping prepare the next generation of counselors. The gift is part of IU’s Never Daunted campaign, and the donors are IU alumni.

WHY IT MATTERS

This donation matters because it directly supports two linked goals: expanding low‑cost counseling for local residents and creating more practical training opportunities for graduate counseling students. The Schoellkopf Community Counseling Center delivers client care (1,452 appointments and 144 clients served, per IU Columbus) while acting as a training site where graduate students receive supervised clinical experience—meaning they practice counseling while instructors observe and give feedback in real time. That hands‑on training is how students build counseling skills and apply classroom learning to real client work.

The university says the new gift will fund staffing and technology upgrades that can increase the center’s capacity to schedule more appointments and accommodate more students in field experience, and it also enhances scholarships and a paid internship that support students entering those placements. Watch for IU Columbus announcements spelling out expanded hours, new staff hires, scholarship details and any changes in clinic capacity or services. Source: IU Columbus news release and reporting in The Republic.

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Primary reporting or source material published October 12, 2026 at 12:09 AM EDT. Prepared with AI assistance from the linked research; material claims remain attributed in the article.

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