Metallica Is Paying for Students’ Trade School. Here’s How it Works.

• Metallica's charitable organization, All Within My Hands, provides funding to 60 community colleges across all 50 states. The community colleges then choose how to use funding to support workforce development.
• Trades are some of the fastest-growing careers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Bismarck State College in North Dakota is supporting students in welding and mechanical maintenance technology programs — two in-demand careers in the state.
• The Community College of Allegheny County is creating an academy for high schoolers to learn five skilled trades from October to March.

Legendary metal band Metallica's nonprofit is now helping fund some trade school students' training in all 50 states.

In its sixth year of workforce education scholarships, Metallica's charitable organization, All Within My Hands (AWMH), expanded to every state by funding 18 more colleges with $75,000 each to help students — called Metallica Scholars — pay for their training.

The Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI) provides scholarships for workforce education programs to a total of 60 community colleges through the American Association of Community Colleges. AMWH told BestColleges that scholarships are granted to each college, which then chooses how to use and who receives the funds. At the end of its sixth year in July 2025, AMWH's funding will have supported over 8,000 students.

Two newly added colleges, Bismarck State College (BSC) in North Dakota and the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) in Pennsylvania are supporting students in very different ways. BSC is providing scholarships and free tuition to in-demand trade programs and CCAC is giving high school students a stipend to take classes in five trades.

Trades are some of the fastest-growing careers in the nation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), two trade occupations take the top spots for fastest-growing careers.

Funding Students' Education for In-Demand Careers

At Bismarck State College, all mechanical maintenance technology students will receive free tuition this academic year, thanks to AWMH. Some students in the welding program will also receive a minimum $500 scholarship based on financial need.

All a student needs to do to qualify to be a Metallica Scholar is:

• Be enrolled full-time in either program
• Complete the Metallica Scholars application
• Meet satisfactory academic progress
• File the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident

Since the MSI announcement on August 1, BSC enrolled 39 students into both programs and will continue to add students since the programs have flexible start dates and funding is still available.

Area employers are saying they have a real need for welders and an even greater need for individuals trained in mechanical maintenance, a BSC spokesperson told BestColleges. Both BSC programs offer short-term certificate options in these well-paying industries, and both have very high projected job growth rates in North Dakota.

According to the BLS, North Dakota has one of the highest concentrations of jobs for welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers. The number of jobs for industrial machinery mechanics, machinery maintenance workers, and millwrights are projected to grow 15% from 2023-2033.

BSC said that students in these programs are often recruited by employers as early as their first semester of classes and graduate with little-to-no debt and a job.

Tate Frieze, a BSC mechanical maintenance technology student and Metallica Scholar, told BestColleges that an advisor at BSC told him about the scholarship and helped him decide what he really wanted to pursue as a career.

I think I would possibly still be doing the same thing, but [the scholarship] made the decision a lot easier for me, Frieze said. I am a fan of [Metallica's] music, but that didn't swing my decision to apply for the program at all. However, I think it is super cool that they decided to do this scholarship program.

Introducing Students to Skilled Trades Early On

The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is using MSI funding to launch a Skilled Trades Academy to introduce regional high school students ages 14 to 17 to skilled trades.

Students will meet every Saturday from October through March to take five courses in welding, solar photovoltaic technology, commercial vehicle operation, electrical technology, and HVAC technology.

Through MSI, each student can apply to enroll in the academy for free, receive free lunch and beverages, and receive a $150 stipend after completing it.

Since this is our first year, it is difficult to say at this early stage, but we have experienced an encouraging early response from the high schools, Public Relations Director Dena Rose told BestColleges. We fully anticipate that we will see an increase in enrollment in these programs as a result of the new Skilled Trades Academy program. This initiative will offer CCAC the unique ability to give high school students hands-on introductions to several of our skilled trades programs.

AMWH hopes to attract even more schools, as the Metallica Scholars Initiative is one of the foundation's most successful programs.

The Metallica brand helps the schools find additional funding, opens the conversation about the importance of career and technical training, and helps with marketing the school, AWMH told BestColleges. We also have learned that students who find out that their favorite band is helping to fund their education are pretty blown away.