HANMI offers tourism scholarships

Scholarships are now available to junior and senior high school students eyeing tourism courses at the Northern Marianas College.

The scholarships, funded by the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, are also available to students currently enrolled at the college majoring in hospitality management.

The scholarships are given to develop hospitality professionals by providing financial assistance and on-the-job training opportunities to students in their pursuit of careers in the tourism and hospitality industry.

It also aims to alleviate the current and future shortage of skilled and trained workforce for the CNMI and provide current tourism industry employees with opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills, and enhance their career and professional development.

The number of scholarships awarded each year would depend on the availability of funds.

The scholarship would also fund tourism education programs for current hospitality industry employees who have been employed for at least two years at a hotel that is a HANMI member.

The employees must pursue professional development at NMC or through other approved programs, e.g. AHMA Educational Institute courses.

The scholarships are also open to NMC students or HANMI employees who are participating in approved internships or tourism-related courses abroad.

To be eligible for this scholarship, a student must be a U.S. citizen or CNMI resident, or currently employed in the hospitality industry with at least two years of employment service in the CNMI.

The student must be currently enrolled as a full or part-time student majoring in Hospitality Management at NMC, or be enrolled in another TS board-approved professional tourism course during the semester that the scholarship is being awarded.

He or she must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher; the latter does not apply to HANMI employee applicants.

Tourism scholarship application forms could be obtained from the NMC Financial Aid Office, NMC Business Department, or from a HANMI member hotel. All applications and required documents must be received by NMC on or before July 1. The application is on a yearly basis and is renewable upon the availability of funds.

The following are the application documents required for submission along with the filled out application form:

1. An official NMC Tourism Scholarship application form;

2. An official high school or college academic transcript, if applicable;

3. A letter of acceptance from NMC, if applicable;

4. Proof of citizenship and/or residency;

5. A written statement from the applicant describing his/her long-term career goals and purpose of study;

6. A letter of recommendation from a former/current teacher, counselor, etc. (non-immediate relative.);

7. If a HANMI employee, employment certification for the past two years and a letter of recommendation from his/her employer.