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Where Do PVF Roundtable Donations Go?
by Krystal Hatfield
At the end of each year, usually during the Guest Speaker Dinner in October, the PVF Roundtable presents colleges and trade schools with over-sized check scholarship donations to directors and chancellors of said institutes. We are delighted to report that the PVF RT Charitable Foundation has provided over 2M in scholarship funds to the following schools currently supported by the PVF Roundtable: A&M University, University of Houston, Houston Community College, Lee College, ABC Pelican, Del Mar College, San Jacinto College, and Lamar Institute.
In February, a representative from each school presented the PVF RT Board of Directors with a breakdown of the 2022 donated funds distributed in 2023 to show the impact PVF RT helped make on student lives. Each school reported helping an average of 43-56 students and discovered unique insights in enrollment studies and post graduate surveys.
A&M University reported interesting statistics regarding job placement after graduation of PVF scholarship recipients: that out of 96 responses, 67 students have a job offer or are currently employed since graduation. Focusing specifically on undergraduate degrees in Industrial Distribution, A&M reported 79% male, 17% female. 37% of graduates in this field ended up in sales, while 9% are in supply chain, and 3% are in manufacturing.
University of Houston provided 56 students with a scholarship, all to Industrial Engineering majors, and plans to increase this number by 12-15 students for next year. In 2023 The College of Engineering and College of Technology merged, helping U of H jump 21 positions from 91 to 70 in just one year according to the latest US News and World Report Rankings.
HCC Houston Community College gave 43 students a scholarship in the following fields: Machining, Manufacturing, Welding, and Pipefitting. HCC also conducted a study to determine the main reasons students are leaving college: 52% because of financial issues such as lack of funds, personal bills, debt. 44% because of financial aid issues such as tuition too expensive, insufficient financial aid.
Lee College awarded 43 scholarships, with 12 of those students returning from receiving a PVF RT scholarship last year! Lee College has increased their community involvement to recruit more students and has started to offer weekend welding classes to fit the needs of students who are currently employed.