ABA Centers of Florida Celebrates Five Florida Team Members Achieving Their Master’s Degrees
On Their Journey to Becoming the Next Generation of BCBAs
ABA Centers of Florida proudly celebrates the graduation of five of its team members in the inaugural cohort of scholarship recipients from Temple University’s Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) program. Completing their studies this past December, these graduates were recognized in an intimate ceremony on the Temple campus today, ahead of the school’s main commencement ceremony this coming May.
While 1 in 31 children in the United States have been diagnosed with autism, equating to roughly 2.27 million children, there are currently only about 72,000 BCBAs throughout the country – and only about 8,200 throughout Florida – to serve them. This is a disheartening discrepancy, as BCBAs are the professionals responsible for devising the individualized therapy plans that guide each child in achieving their unique goals, making them the cornerstone to autism care.
BCBAs must obtain a master’s degree to step into the role and increasing access to higher education is the primary way to create a sustainable pipeline for this drastically needed professional position. Recognizing this, ABA Centers developed a BCBA Apprentice Program, which provides its qualified team members with a full ride scholarship to virtually obtain their master’s degree in ABA through Temple as part of a robust offering of career development support. While this virtual track was created specifically for ABA Centers, it is open to all students, removing geographic barriers and creating broader, more equitable pathways for the next generation of BCBAs who may not have any affiliation to ABA Centers.
“This inaugural graduating cohort represents exactly what our field – and our communities – need right now: highly trained, deeply committed clinicians prepared to meet the growing demand for autism care,” said Quatiba Davis, Chief Clinical Officer of ABA Centers. “By removing financial and geographic barriers to advanced education, we’re investing in the professional growth of our team members, as well as strengthening the future of autism care nationwide.”
Hailing from the Boca Raton, Jensen Beach, and Tamarac marketings, the geographic diversity of these graduates highlights the scale and impact that this program has across the state. These clinicians will go on to convert the worldclass curriculum provided by Temple into measurable, community-level impact, delivering high-quality care with the potential to positively transform the lives of thousands of children with autism and their families. This scholarship program launched with the Fall 2023 semester and has inducted a new cohort every semester since. This academic opportunity is open to all ABA Centers of Florida team members throughout Florida. There are currently 73 scholarship recipients participating in this program and ABA Centers aims to enroll 30 new recipients each semester for the foreseeable future.
Together, these graduates and the growing ranks of scholarship recipients highlight ABA Centers of Florida’s long-term commitment to addressing the autism care workforce shortage through meaningful, scalable investment in education. By empowering team members to advance their clinical expertise and expand access to high-quality training, ABA Centers of Florida is helping ensure that more children and families receive the individualized, evidence-based care they deserve – today and for generations to come.
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