Ford Creates $1 Million Scholarship to Train Future Auto Techs

Ford is encouraging students in four U.S. cities to become future automotive technicians with a $1 million scholarship fund. The company wants to address an ongoing shortage of auto techs with the new scholarship, according to Automotive News. There are reportedly just not enough techs coming out of schools, so Ford is stepping in with the Ford Auto Tech Scholarship, available to students in Greater Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Phoenix starting this summer.

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The scholarship will be given to 200 current or future students who are (or plan to be) “enrolled in post-secondary auto or auto- and diesel-related technician training programs,” per Auto News. Each of the students will receive $5,000, and the money can be used to cover the cost of attendance, tuition, tools, living expenses and transportation.

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Demand for auto techs in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Phoenix is increasing, but local schools are struggling to crank out enough techs to get them into dealerships and other shops. And demand isn’t slowing any time soon, with Ford estimating the need for techs to increase “by 14 percent in Arizona, 10 percent in Texas, seven percent in Georgia and three percent in the city of Chicago,” as Auto News reports.