West Linn-Wilsonville juniors and seniors can earn at least nine free college credits in behavioral health before they graduate high school.
The United We Heal pre-apprenticeship program offers three college-level courses. For West Linn-Wilsonville students, the courses run through Clackamas Community College, according to the Wilsonville Broadcast Network, a student news outlet that profiled the program Oct. 30.
The courses are Behavioral Health Psychology, Human Studies in Behavioral Health I and Human Studies in Behavioral Health II. Each carries three to four credits, according to United We Heal's website.
Students pay nothing. Grant funding covers the costs, and participants receive financial stipends, the organization's website states.
The student outlet reported that the program being free has doubled enrollment, though it did not specify a baseline figure or when the change took effect.
Across all participating schools, 499 people had registered and 198 had graduated as apprentices through December 2025, the outlet reported.
Alongside the college courses, participants complete a 36-week, self-paced online training curriculum covering career exploration, a field-based investigation and a capstone project.
Graduates gain eligibility for United We Heal's Qualified Mental Health Associate (QMHA) or Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) apprenticeship programs.
That could put students on track for a professional credential 12 months after finishing high school, according to United We Heal.
A June 2024 report from Jobs for the Future, a workforce development nonprofit, listed the West Linn-Wilsonville district's healthcare pre-apprenticeship at Riverside High School in Tualatin among three national example programs.
