Thinking about a career servicing or supplying parts for vehicle maintenance and repair?
It can be a rewarding career. But, are finances holding you back from further schooling?
Luckily, there are scholarship options—a lot of them, in fact, via the Heavy Duty Scholarships Central program.
With support from the University of the Aftermarket Foundation (UAF), Heavy Duty Scholarships Central is a unique scholarship program that looks to provide financial help to students looking to make a career in the automotive aftermarket and commercial vehicle industry.
Options are available, as just a single application can garner a student consideration for hundreds of different scholarship opportunities available from over 40 different organizations.
“In 2021, we were able to provide $706,000 in scholarships to 427 students across the U.S.,” exalted Danielle Sonnefeld, Scholarship Chairman, University of the Aftermarket Foundation.
She said that some 70 percent of the scholarship winners were given to students going to school to be a technician, with the remaining 30 percent spread over such fields as marketing and engineering.
For women looking to gain an automotive education to break into the industry, consider that the Women In Auto Care association provided approximately $100,000 in scholarships to female students in 2021—that’s just one organization looking specifically for female students. Other organizations, noted Sonnefeld, are not gender specific.
“Organizations just want to help provide an educational opportunity to what we all hope are the next-gen leaders in the automotive and heavy-duty industry,” Sonnefeld explained.
Who qualifies?
- Full-time students at an accredited U.S. college or university or an ASE/NATEF Certified post-secondary automotive, heavy duty, or collision repair school;
- Graduating high school seniors planning to be full-time students at any of the above;
- No GPA requirement.
Applying online is easy, but there are few things to be aware of when applying.
- You will be asked to write a one-page essay about your career goals. You can also post an optional short video on YouTube and include the link to it on your scholarship application;
- You will be asked for at least one letter of reference
- Some of the organizations that work with UAF require a reference from one of their members or your automotive instructor;
- Each organization’s page, located on the Scholarship Page, has details of their own scholarship eligibility requirements. Click on each company’s logo to learn more about their scholarship opportunities with the UAF;
- Submit your high school transcript, and your post-secondary transcript if you are already in a post-secondary program.
- There is no age barrier to apply to these scholarship opportunities.
Note that all monetary scholarship awards are paid directly to the institution you will be attending to further your education.
So… lost opportunity no longer.
Applications for these scholarships are open through March 31, 2022.
For more information, visit: https://heavydutyscholarships.com.