By Ellen McKoy
 An avid off-roader, Nick D’Orazio turned an interest in auto mechanics into a career in design engineering at Fox Factory Inc. With financial assistance from SEMA, he’s been able to pay down on a higher-interest student loan. |
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Consumer Credit Panel, student debt has hit a record-setting $1.52 trillion. And while millions of college grads struggle to repay their loans, for those pursuing a career in the automotive industry, there’s a pathway to help them leave their worries behind: the SEMA Loan Forgiveness Program.
Established in the early 2000s under the SEMA Memorial Scholarship Fund, the program is aimed at helping graduates employed by a SEMA-member company pay off their student loans.
Loan forgiveness awards are presented annually to qualified candidates. Beyond employment at a member company, applicants must hold a degree or certificate from an accredited college, university or technical school, have a minimum 2.5 GPA and, perhaps most important, a demonstrated passion for the industry.
SEMA is now accepting applications for the 2019 SEMA Loan Forgiveness and Scholarship programs at www.sema.org/scholarships. The deadline to apply is March 1.
For more information, contact SEMA Manager of Student Programs Juliet Marshall at 909-978-6655 or julietm@sema.org.