SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (June 13, 2013) — Nissan Motor Co. has donated $150,000 to the Universal Technical Institute (UTI) Foundation for automotive technical education.
Nissan said through its donations—which now total $800,000—the company established the Nissan Automotive Technical Training (NATT) scholarship, with each scholarship worth $5,000 to cover tuition costs for the nine-week NATT program.
The NATT scholarship has awarded 101 grants to students; it is available at UTI"s NASCAR Tech, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Fla., and Sacramento, Calif., campuses.
"The NATT scholarship has given UTI students seeking advanced training the additional resources to advance their careers with the opportunity to work at Nissan," said Veronica Meury, UTI Foundation vice president and executive director.
"Nissan"s support of technical education helps UTI students fulfill their dreams and become productive members of an innovative workforce."
John Spoon, Nissan vice president, parts and service division, said that the auto maker and its dealers "continue to increase our vehicle sales and our rate of service retention for first year, in-warranty and out-of-warranty metrics."
"In the midst of this strong growth, we are aggressively pursuing a recruitment strategy to increase the number of trained service technicians. The Nissan Automotive Technician Training program at Universal Technical Institute is critical to our dealers filling this business need."
Students who fit the criteria, complete the application and obtain the endorsement of an employer, guidance counselor or instructor are encouraged to apply. Students also must commit to a term of employment at a Nissan/Infiniti dealership upon graduation and receive the recommendation of a Nissan or Infiniti dealer upon submitting an application.