Money for mental health services: Who isn’t for that?
The bigger question: How far can you make your money go?
Fairleigh Dickinson University is preparing to find out.
In February, the university announced it would use the largest single philanthropic gift in its history — a $6 million donation from an anonymous benefactor — to expand and strengthen programs within its College of Psychology and Counseling. University officials say the investment will reverberate across classrooms, clinics and communities at a moment when demand for mental health professionals has never been higher.
The funding will support academic expansion on both FDU’s Metropolitan Campus in Teaneck and its Florham Park campus, with an emphasis on workforce development, interdisciplinary training and access to care.
At the center of the initiative is the Marion Turpan Innovation and Humanics Hub, an interdisciplinary space now under development on the first floor of Dickinson Hall at the Metropolitan Campus. Scheduled to open in early 2027, the hub is designed to bring together students and faculty from psychology, counseling, nursing and related health disciplines.
The goal is to prepare future clinicians for a profession increasingly shaped by technology, data and evolving models of care, without losing sight of the human connection at the heart of mental health work.
“The key question for the new hub is how do we prepare students to remain deeply human in a technology‑driven world,” FDU President Michael Avaltroni said.
Beyond the new hub, the gift will fund scholarships and fellowships, expand academic and professional development offerings, strengthen faculty resources, enhance mental health training and services, and support capital improvements throughout the college.
Programs within the College of Psychology and Counseling—part of FDU Health—span clinical psychology, school psychology, mental health counseling, forensic psychology, industrial‑organizational psychology, psychopharmacology and related fields. The college also operates a low‑cost community mental health clinic that serves as both a training site for students and a critical resource for the surrounding community.
Avaltroni described the donation as “a deep belief in the power of education to transform lives and communities,” noting that it directly supports students preparing for careers as clinicians, researchers, educators and leaders in the mental health field.
The scope and intent of the initiative earned early recognition. BINJE’s 2026 Best: Higher Education rankings named the FDU effort the No. 1 Workforce Development story, citing its focus on addressing shortages in the mental health profession through education, training and access to care.
The $6 million gift builds on an earlier $1 million contribution from the same donor, which established the Dennis Turpan Research and Development Lab for Cutting‑edge Technologies and Disciplines in Becton Hall. That earlier investment supported research space, graduate student work and scholarships within the College of Psychology and Counseling.
