If you’re someone who is interested in learning technical, hands-on skills, a trade school might be your best option. Trade schools, also known as vocational schools or technical colleges, teach manual, mechanical, or technical skills for professions such as welders, auto mechanics, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, avionics technicians, and wind turbine installers.
Trade school programs are often shorter in length than most educational paths, ranging from a year or less to up to two years. Many trade school skills are taught through apprenticeships and in community colleges. If you are interested in pursuing a trade, here are 10 scholarships to help fund your education:
- DEWALT Trades Scholarship
The DEWALT Trades Scholarship program is awarding up to 20 scholarships of $10,000 each to students planning to pursue full-time study at a two-year college or vocational-technical school. To apply, students must be high school seniors, graduates or undergraduates who plan to pursue a degree/certificate in trade fields such as construction, motor/power sector, mechanics, or technology.
Amount awarded: $10,000 - Porch Skilled Trade and Technology Scholarship
Applicants must be 18 years+ and currently be enrolled as a high school senior, community college, undergraduate, graduate, technical college, or vocational program in the United States with a minimum 3.4 GPA.
Amount awarded: $2,000 - College and Trade/Technical School Scholarships
Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs, The Foundation of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, Intl. (NBT) is inspiring the next generation of manufacturers, inventors and entrepreneurs through its summer manufacturing camp and scholarship programs. Applicants must be an undergraduate student attending a four-year college or two-year college and studying mechanical engineering, materials science, engineering, and metallurgy, trade/technical specialties, aviation/aerospace, electrical engineering/electronics, engineering-related technologies, engineering/technology, or industrial design.
Amount awarded: $1,500+ - Workforce Development Scholarship
Eligible applicants can be anyone who is planning to attend a technical school or approved craft training program in any discipline of construction, including a high school senior, military member, or postsecondary student. To be considered, you must be studying construction engineering/management, engineering-related technologies, engineering/technology, or trade/technical specialties.
Amount awarded: $1,000 - National Association of Women in Construction Construction Trades Scholarship
Applicants must be currently enrolled in a construction-related training program, craft, or trade which is approved by the Bureau of Apprenticeship Training, community college, technical school or equivalent.
Amount awarded: varies - Vocational Scholarship Program
The APWU National Executive Board established vocational scholarships to help students interested in programs of study leading to trade, technical, industrial, or vocational occupations that can include culinary, medical or dental assistant, electrician, real estate, auto mechanic, certified IT computer education, massage therapy, or cosmetology. Five recipients will receive up to $3,000 to be used for up to three years of study in a specific trade, technical, industrial, or vocational school. Recipients for the vocational awards must attend an accredited community college, vocational school, or vocational program.
Amount awarded: $3,000 - Lockheed Martin Vocational Scholarship Program
This scholarship awards up to 151 renewable scholarships of $6,600 each to students pursuing an associate’s degree or certification in one of the many specified areas of study. Applicants must be high school seniors, graduates (or GED equivalent), or current undergraduate with less than a bachelor’s degree; must be U.S. citizens who are planning to enroll full-time at an accredited vocational technical school, trade school, two-year community, or state college. Fields of study include computer and information sciences, support services; engineering technologies/technicians; mechanic and repair technologies; precision production; transportation and materials moving; or security and protective services.
Amount awarded: $6,600 - Elwin and Evelyn Dyer Family Memorial Fund
Awards from the Elwin and Evelyn Dyer Family Memorial Fund are made preferentially to students pursuing education in the trades or professions. Eligible candidates must be an undergraduate student attending a university, a four-year college, two-year college, or a vocational-tech school.
Amount awarded: varies - Samuel Gentry Scholarship
This scholarship is designed for women who are pursuing a career in the welding industry, and who will attend a two-year program to learn the trade. Candidates must be a full-time undergraduate student attending a two-year college or a vocational-tech school in the U.S. or Canada.
Amount awarded: varies - TLMI 2 Year College Degree Scholarship Program
Applicants must be enrolled full-time in an accredited two-year college or technical program in the U.S. or Canada and must be studying flexography, graphics/graphic arts, or printing.
Amount awarded: $2,500
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