July 30, 2012—Nissan Americas recently donated $150,000 to the Universal Technical Institute (UTI) Foundation to fund the Nissan Automotive Technical Training (NATT) scholarship.

The UTI Foundation said the NATT scholarship is available to students at its NASCAR Tech, Boston, Houston, Orlando and Sacramento campuses. To qualify for the scholarship, students must be endorsed by an employer, guidance counselor or instructor. Students are also required to commit to a term of employment at a Nissan or Infiniti dealership upon graduation, and submit the recommendation of a Nissan or Infiniti dealer with their scholarship application.

UTI said each student awarded with the scholarship will receive $5,000 to cover tuition costs for the nine-week training program.

"The technicians who work in Nissan and Infiniti dealerships across the country are the face of our company to many of our customers," said John Spoon, vice president of Parts and Service for Nissan. "Through UTI, we are committed to helping aspiring technicians gain the technical skills they need to deliver best-in-class service and reinforce the trust our customers have in our brands."

Nissan has donated $645,000 to the UTI Foundation over the last four years to fund the NATT scholarship, which has awarded scholarships to 48 students since 2009, UTI said.

"The continued support of Nissan Americas is outstanding and we are most grateful," said Veronica Meury, vice president and executive director of the UTI Foundation. "The NATT scholarship program has been a tremendous help to UTI students seeking advanced training and gives students the additional resources to achieve their dream of working for Nissan."

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based UTI is a provider of technical education for individuals pursuing careers as automotive, collision repair, diesel, marine or motorcycle technicians. UTI offers technical training programs at 11 campuses throughout the U.S.