This paper describes the early findings o f a supported education program (SEP) at a New York City-located state hospital that was created to provide seriously mentally ill consumers residing in the community with increased rehabilitative options. This program is a hybrid o f a mobile type SEP and a counseling service for the college bound. The focus o f the program concentrates on elevating the functioning o f the most seriously ill outpatients and relies upon a consortium o f three colleges. Preliminary data indicate that this program effort was as important to consumers for the goals clarification it offered as it was for the increased access it gave them to higher education. Additionally, the records o f participating patients suggest that a number o f complex dynamics spontaneously evolved in the patient referral process that were unexpected vis-a-vis staff intent. Finally, the implications o f having this sponsored by a state hospital place particular demands on the communication skills o f the clinicians who work with college faculty. The rewards for implementing this program are promising and send an important message o f hope to all those concerned with the fate o f services for the seriously mentally ill.No generally available life experience is more associated with the American birthright of fulfilling one's own potential than a college education. Yet few rehabilitative ventures for people with serious mental illness are associated with as much skepticism and hope as are education programs. The doubts originate from the history of disappointments and frustrations reported by clinicians working with this population over a long period (Liberman, 1988). Part and parcel of these beliefs is the notion that the cognitive deficits, which are the hallmark of major mental disorders, automatically eliminate the possibility of any academic success. Fortunately, a wave of countervailing hope is arising from the growing number of supportive education programs asserting that a variety of approaches, flexibly tailored to the needs of mentally ill patients who are aspiring to be students, are This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

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