Funds are part of API’s $100,000 gift to the College of Engineering over the last two years
By Mark Langford/Associate Director of Strategic Communications
Ten students in The University of Texas at San Antonio’s (UTSA) College of Engineering (COE) will each receive $1,000 – $2,000 each in scholarships from the American Petroleum Institute (API) San Antonio Chapter as part of the 3rd Annual Texas Energy Expo, Nov. 11-12, at UTSA’s Main Campus.
The $11,000 in scholarships are part of a $100,000 gift that the San Antonio Chapter of the API has made to COE over the last two years. That amount includes an $80,000 API San Antonio Endowed Scholarship and $20,000 for API San Antonio Annual Scholarships.
“We are grateful for the support that the San Antonio American Petroleum Institute has given us over the last two years in the form of their endowed scholarship,” said JoAnn Browning, dean of the College of Engineering. “An endowment like this helps provide long-lasting scholarship funding for our engineering students. API’s generosity supports our talented undergrad and graduate students as they follow their career aspirations of becoming productive engineers.”
API members come from all segments of the oil and natural gas industry, including the largest major producers to the smallest of independents, refiners, pipeline operators, services and supply companies. The local organization holds a variety of fundraising events to support educational scholarships and community service projects.
“The majority of our funds go to support our scholarship programs,” said John Pepper, president of the San Antonio API Chapter. “We believe it is important to support students who want to build a career in the oil and gas industry, which is critical to our economy and national security.”
Over the past two years, the San Antonio API Chapter has given out more than $500,000 in individual student scholarships and endowment funds to local universities. Under COE requirements, a student must be enrolled full time and actively pursuing a degree in an engineering or oil-related field to be eligible for the scholarship.
Christian Trevino, a UTSA mechanical engineering student who will graduate next May, said the API scholarship she received last year helped her study more, get better grades, purchase extra books and afford tutoring services.
“The API scholarship allowed me to reduce the amount of hours I was working at my job. I used those extra hours to study for my classes and ended up with much higher grades than semesters before,” Trevino said. “I will always be grateful for scholarships just like the API’s.”
The two-day Texas Energy Expo provides an opportunity for UTSA students to meet with representatives of the energy industry to discuss employment opportunities. This year’s scholarship recepients will be announced at the Expo’s networking luncheon Nov. 11 in the H-E-B University Center Ballroom 2 on at the UTSA Main Campus.
To learn more about the COE visit http://engineering2.utsa.edu/
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