by Sarah Mummert, Student Public Relations Writer
Students at Cedarville University are known for their excellence in effort, and Alison (Bachowski) Hartong is no exception, as she is headed for a prestigious fellowship in the fall.
The 2023 Cedarville psychology graduate was accepted into Indiana University’s doctoral-level graduate program in counseling psychology. The six-year program includes four years of core courses, a fifth year for a doctoral dissertation and a sixth for a doctoral internship. 
Hartong, originally from Springfield, Ohio, was also granted a fellowship from the counseling educational psychology department in the school of education at Indiana University. This prestigious four-year award includes a generous stipend each year and fee remission for up to 30 credit hours of tuition. She will also work as an associate instructor, teaching several credit hours of undergraduate psychology courses.
Hartong applied to seven graduate schools, but Indiana University was her top choice. She’s interested in researching women diagnosed with autism after becoming adults due to high masking behaviors, a topic that she’s passionate about.
“There is a clear gap in research for adult women with autism,” Hartong said. “Many women who are diagnosed later in life have a difficult time getting their diagnosis because there is a severe lack of awareness and resources available.”
As this topic is highly specific, finding a faculty member who was passionate about the same topic is one of the things that drove Hartong’s decision to attend Indiana University.
The coursework and co-curricular activities Hartong pursued at Cedarville helped her stand out from the crowd and land her one of six places in a competitive application process. Cedarville’s teaching assistant program allowed her to serve as TA for several faculty members. She has had many research opportunities, been published in several journals, presented at several national level research conferences and is currently serving as an assistant to the director of research for the department of psychology.
Indiana University was impressed. So much so that when Hartong visited the campus, a faculty member asked to be put in contact with Cedarville faculty members. Classes like the specialized Autism and Spectrum Disorders course and opportunities like having theatre students role-play in counseling scenarios really make Cedarville stand out from other schools.
“I’ve done many internships while at Cedarville,” said Hartong. “To actually be a counselor with my own client load is going to be truly exciting.”
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 5,082 undergraduate, graduate, and dual-enrolled high school students in more than 175 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Bachelor of Arts in psychology, high graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and the #4 national ranking by the Wall Street Journal for student engagement. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.