Metallica Scholars Initiative
Applications for the 2026 Fall Semester are due Friday, August 7, 2026 at noon.
East Central College is part of the Metallica Scholars Initiative sponsored by iconic heavy metal band Metallica. Through their foundation, All Within My Hands, the band provide funds for scholarships to help students in the Advanced Manufacturing programs at East Central College.
Metallica Scholars Initiative students will be trained in the following Advanced Manufacturing programs:
Graduates of these programs are in a strategic position to quickly enter the workforce to achieve competitive wages and benefits.
Short Term. More Pay. Gain Skills.
The programs were selected specifically for students to gain workplace skills in a short amount of time.
How do I qualify for a scholarship through the Metallica Scholars Initiative?
A student must show the following:
- Display financial need
- Completed a high school diploma/high school equivalency
- Must be enrolled in one of the four programs:
- Welding
- Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning
- Industrial Engineering Technology
- Precision Machining
- Must complete a thank you to the Metallica Foundation.
Already a student?
If you are already an ECC student and interested in the Metallica Scholars Initiative, complete the scholarship form. (Sign in using your standard ECC account info.)
Metallica Scholars Scholarship Form
Questions?
Contact Kathy Luther
636-584-6571
Are you new to ECC?
For more information on how to take advantage of the Metallica Scholars Initiative, contact Kathy Luther, Associate Director, Financial Aid:
636-584-6571 or Kathy Luther
Scholarship Recipients
How many students have received a Metallica Scholars award? 135 students have been awarded!
How many scholarships have been awarded? 202 scholarships awarded as of the end of the 2025 spring semester!
How much money has been awarded since 2022? More than $200,000!
What can the scholarship pay for? Students can use the scholarship to pay for tuition, fees, books, supplies, day care and transportation costs.
Hunter Smith
Precision Machining, First Generation
Thank you All Within Our Hands Foundation for providing me with the Metallica Scholarship.
I am enrolled in the Precision Machining Technology program, and I am pursuing an associate’s degree. I am the only person in my family, aside from my sister, to go to college. After obtaining my associate’s degree, I plan to enroll in Pre-Engineering at ECC and then pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering to fully master this trade.
Thank you again for your continued assistance in funding my education. It means a lot. Any bit helps greatly in the long road of education I have ahead of me.
Jack Austin
IET
Thank you so much Metallica, I am extremely grateful!
I am the only son of a single mother who has worked incredibly hard all her life to provide for me, yet we still live paycheck to paycheck. Your support of my education is more helpful than you could imagine. I will use the donation given to me to purchase the necessary textbooks and materials for my IET courses. Once I receive my degree in Industrial Engineering Technology, I hope to find a career that will help me support my mother and myself.
Thank you again for your generosity, you will never understand how much your gift means to me. It’s truly something I won’t forget.
Abigail Spurgeon
Welding, First Generation
Thank you so much for the Metallica Scholarship!
I am the first person in my family to attend college, so being a recipient of this award has me greatly honored. In high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. At first, I wanted to do auto collision repair. But after taking a construction class where we did welding, I immediately fell in love with the sparks and the creations. I didn’t even plan to go to college, but here I am going for my associates and majoring in welding. I even plan to get my AWS certificate, and this scholarship has made it more feasible, thanks to you.
This gift I have been given truly inspires me to do my best throughout the course.
Read more notes from the Metallica Scholars recipients
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