Taking a strong interest in the automotive field and setting your sights on a career in the field could provide you with great opportunities for automotive scholarships that could fund your college education for you. The scholarships that are offered come from a variety of amounts and types, giving you a lot of choices to make when it comes to funding your automotive education. Auto mechanics make up a very large industry all over the world, and provide essential services to so many. In order to ensure these mechanics are as well-educated as possible, scholarships are funded by various organizations and even schools, suiting up the industry much better while opening great opportunities for raising your education level in an affordable manner.
What Are Scholarships And What Is The Point?
Automotive-based scholarships are field-based scholarships intended for students within the automotive trade that may be seeking to further their career through college training, or students graduating from high school with intentions of entering an automotive-related field of study. The aim of these scholarships is to motivate those interested in the automotive trade to continue with furthering their education in order to enter the workforce strong and independent. There are various specialties that are qualified for these scholarships also, which include auto upholstery, NASCAR and pit crew automotive, automotive technology, auto body and paint, motorcycle automotive technology, and others. These are scholarships that award those for taking interest in the trade and provides great funding to support their growth in educational training.
Finding Available Scholarship Opportunities
Since an automotive scholarship is field-based, there are several industry associations that offer these awards, and can be a great starting point for looking for scholarships you could easily obtain based on your unique qualifications. One of the most influential associations is the Automotive Hall of Fame, which is located in Dearborn, MI. The association provides several awards each year to students with strong interest in pursuit of an automotive industry career who demonstrates a financial need for funding. To qualify for any of the scholarships offered by the Automotive Hall of Fame, students must currently be enrolled full-time with an accredited college or university. From this association alone, there are over 15 yearly awards offered, which include:
- Walter W. Stillman Scholarship: Provided to automotive trade students attending full-time courses in Northwood University carrying a GPA of no less than 3.0. Those students from New Jersey are typically the first considered for this award.
- Dorothy M. Ross Memorial Scholarship: Provided to undergraduates in the automotive field who are carrying a GPA of at least 3.0.
- Harold Dieckmann Draper Sr. Scholarship: Provided to students within undergraduate courses of a higher level, carrying a GPA of at least 3.4.
Another great source for these automotive scholarship opportunities is your own job, if you are currently employed with a business related to the automotive industry, including auto parts stores and dealers, or even private automotive businesses in which the employer is interested in investing in a higher education for you to become more of an asset to the company. In some cases, scholarships can even come from employers in the form of tuition reimbursement or loan reimbursement programs. Common automotive industry employers offering these types of scholarships include the popular AutoZone, which awards fifteen $2,500 scholarship awards to high school graduating seniors who are currently employees or dependents of current employees who have held such employment for a minimum of one year. Those who are active in the community, have excelled in their class, or have extracurricular activities under their belts often are given first priority to these awards. Another very popular employer is CARQUEST, which offers four $1,000 scholarship awards to the dependents of technicians within the company or employees within the company who are planning to attend college full-time in pursuit of a degree.
You don’t want to forget about searching with foundations as well. There are several throughout the United States that are focused on bringing more qualified technicians and professionals to the automotive field on various levels.
- Automotive Women’s Alliance: Also known as AWA, this foundation provides awards to women that are entering the automotive trade as professionals in the industry. There is an award of $2,500 granted towards the tuition and fees of women attending any program, as long as there is a clear and demonstrated plan and intent to enter the automotive field within their career.
- Automotive Service Councils of California Educational Foundation: This California-based foundation awards scholarships to students pursuing an automotive-related career through higher education. Students must be attending courses related to the industry and must maintain a GPA of 2.0 in total classes, but 3.0 within any automotive-related classes. Amounts vary dependent on the student.
Colleges also support the automotive field in some cases, such as the South Arkansas Community College which offers Arkansas students studying in the state various scholarships to support their education in automotive technology.
You can find all these great scholarships and various others right through the web, or you can obtain information from your school regarding awards offered if any. Finding automotive scholarships is one step, and applying for all you feel confident about is the next step to affording a quality and rewarding education for a strong career in the automotive industry.
