Greetings,
This is always an exciting and busy time of year for the APA Scholarship Committee!
We closed the 2023 APA scholarship cycle at the end of October and had another great turnout with 42 applications being submitted. This is about the same number submitted in 2022 (43 applications) but we have seen steady growth in the number of applications since 2020.
Although we have not yet started our formal review process, I always look through the applications and continue to be impressed with the strong commitment to aviation careers by both high school and college students in Arizona. As is generally the case, most of our applicants want to pursue careers as professional pilots. We are also seeing more students that are pursuing non-pilot careers in aviation maintenance (A&P and avionics), ATC, and airport management. This is encouraging since we need them to keep the aviation system healthy.
As you know, the APA Scholarship program is totally supported by membership donations. So, from a bottom-line perspective, your contributions are very important to the overall health of our scholarship program. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the scholarship program as we close out the calendar and tax year. I can tell you that the recipients are truly appreciative of your help in achieving their aviation career goals.
The scholarship committee will be working to complete the evaluation of applications over the next few weeks with the winners announced in December. We will provide an update in next month’s newsletter.
Thank you again for supporting the scholarship program and helping APA build the next generation of Arizona aviation professionals.
Stay healthy and fly safe.
Chris