List last updated 10/04/2024
Maybe you’re a high-school or undergraduate student interested in working in a manufacturing or manufacturing-adjacent field that requires a college degree or technical training. Or perhaps, you’re an adult thinking about going back to school for a trade certification or bachelor’s degree in a STEM field related to manufacturing.
Well, there is money out there to help pay for your schooling; you just need to know where to find it. It can be tough to know where to start looking, so the IndustryWeek staff has begun tracking these opportunities for our readers and their friends, neighbors and families.
Below is a running list of the scholarships we’re aware of, which you’ll find below this introduction. At this point, we’re primarily listing United States scholarships that are fairly wide-ranging, rather than scholarships narrowly restricted to a certain group or location or limited to relatives of company employees.
Realizing that there are probably important scholarships we’ve missed, we would like to add to the list in the future. Email your scholarship information to IndustryWeek senior editor Laura Putre at [email protected]
Who is eligible: U.S. college students who are “ambitious problem-solvers” pursuing degrees in STEM fields including engineering, instrumentation, systems and automation that are critical to discrete automation applications. Entrants must be U.S. citizens or legal U.S. residents and completed at least the first year of their bachelor’s degree program. Graduate students are eligible as well.
Amount: Two scholarships of $5,000 each will be awarded.
Deadline: Check website for details. Last year’s (2024) deadline was July 31.
Where to apply: https://www.emerson.com/en-us/automation/industrial-factory-automation/the-emerson-discrete-automation-scholarship-program
Who is eligible: High school seniors and current college and trade school students who have participated in a FIRST Robotics Competition or a FIRST Tech Challenge team during high school. Preference to students pursuing STEM degrees/certifications. Students must be pursuing a post-secondary degree or certification at a North American institution.
Amount: Two $5,000 awards and 10 $1,000 awards will be given
Deadline: The most recent application deadline was May 18, 2024. Check the website for the 2025 deadline.
Where to apply: https://dematic.info/first-scholarship/#apply
Who is eligible: High school seniors with a 2.5 or above GPA, or a freshman, sophomore or junior undergraduate college student with a 2.5 or above GPA. Students must be enrolled or plan to enroll in a four-year program in aerospace, computer, electrical, electrical & computer or industrial engineering, or in computer science, mathematics or physics.
Amount: Up to $10,000 per scholarship. Last year’s scholarship had 100 recipients. The scholarship is renewable for up to four years.
Deadline: Applications typically open in January.
Where to apply: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/communities/stem-education/lm-scholarship-program.html
Who is eligible: Undergraduate students currently enrolled in a college or university and taking at least one class or lab related to cast metal technology. Will also consider candidates not enrolled in such classes but showing tangible efforts toward the pursuit of an education or career in metalcasting (e.g. foundry visits, related extracurricular activities). Must be a North American citizen or permanent resident.
Amount: $2,500
Deadline: Applications are accepted beginning each May and close in mid-September.
Where to apply: https://www.nffs.org/scholarship-program
Organizations promoting manufacturing careers to students:
Read IndustryWeek’s Putting Manufacturing, STEM Into the Hands of Middle and High Schoolers to learn more about these initiatives.
Lockheed Martin Vocational Scholarship
Who is eligible: Students of all ages participating in skills-based training in engineering, technology and manufacturing fields. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and a high school senior or high school graduate (or GED equivalent) and be currently enrolled or planning to enroll at an accredited vocational-technical school, trade school, two-year community college or state college. Eligible fields of study are advanced manufacturing, computer and information sciences, engineering, engineering technologies and mechanic and repair technologies.
Amount: Scholarships of up to $5,000 to as many as 150 recipients.
Deadline: Applications typically open in January.
Where to apply: https://lockheedmartin.com/vocational
Who is eligible: High school seniors or current post-secondary students enrolled in a program, job training, apprenticeship or accredited certification or degree program related to metalforming, manufacturing, technology, machining, CNC, tool and die, welding or stamping. Applicants must have a minimum of one manufacturing-related course in high school and at least a 2.0 GPA.
Amount: $1,000 or more
Deadline: Fall scholarship application deadline is November 3, 2024.
Where to apply: https://www.pma.org/foundation/educational-scholarships.asp
Who is eligible: Students pursuing a bachelor’s or associate degree in welding or a related discipline. There are more than 130 AWS national scholarships funded by companies and other donors, and some have additional eligibility requirements.
Amount: $2,500 to $7,000+
Deadline: March 1, 2025
Where to apply: https://www.aws.org/Career-Resources/Students/Scholarships/National-Scholarships/
Who is eligible: The foundation has more than 60 distinct scholarship programs for high school seniors and college students pursuing associate’s or bachelor’s degrees related to manufacturing and engineering careers. They include both merit and need-based scholarships.
Amount: $2,500 to $20,000
Deadline: Applications accepted from November 1 to February 1. A single application puts you in the running for all of the scholarships.
Where to apply: https://www.smeef.org/sme-education-foundation-scholarships/scholarship-opportunities/
Who is eligible: Those pursuing a trade degree or certificate at a two-year college or vocational-technical school in the U.S. and Canada.
Amount: A total of $200,000 in scholarships to up to 40 students.
Deadline: Last year’s application window was September through mid-January. Check the website for 2025 details.
Where to apply: https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/dewalttrade/
Who is eligible: Students majoring in programs that lead to careers in manufacturing. Must be currently enrolled in or entering a certificate or degree program of 12 or more credit hours, with at least a 2.5 GPA for trade, community or technical colleges and a 3.0 GPA for universities. Recommended fields of study are listed here: https://www.fmamfg.org/foundation/scholarships/eligibility-fields-of-study-nbt-scholarships
Amount: Depends on the scholarship.
Deadline: Scholarships are award in spring and fall. The next round of applications will be accepted from July 1-September 30, 2025.
Where to apply: https://www.fmamfg.org/foundation/scholarships
Who is eligible: Any student interested in pursuing a career in CNC machining or programming.
Amount: $2,000
Deadline: November 1, 2024
Where to apply: https://premierequipment.com/mechanical-engineering-scholarship/
Who is eligible: U.S. military veterans and active-duty service members pursuing higher education–especially those interested in manufacturing careers.
Amount: $1,000
Deadline: February 14, 2025
Where to apply: https://premierequipment.com/veteran-scholarship/
As senior editor, Laura Putre works with IndustryWeek‘s editorial contributors and reports on leadership and the automotive industry as they relate to manufacturing. She joined IndustryWeek in 2015 as a staff writer covering workforce issues.
Prior to IndustryWeek, Laura reported on the healthcare industry and covered local news. She was the editor of the Chicago Journal and a staff writer for Cleveland Scene. Her national bylines include The Guardian, Slate, Pacific-Standard and The Root.
Laura was a National Press Foundation fellow in 2022.
Got a story idea? Reach out to Laura at [email protected]
