General
The American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF) offers scholarships to students currently enrolled in accredited occupational therapy programs. Over 60 scholarships are available this year from AOTF and its collaboration with state occupational therapy associations. The scholarships range in value from $150 to $5,000.
Applicants must be currently enrolled full time in either a professional occupational therapy educational program or an occupational therapy assistant program and must meet all eligibility requirements. (See Availability and Eligibility Requirements)
Please note that applications for the 2007-2008 academic year must be completed online by February 8, 2008. Transcripts and Personal References must be postmarked by February 29, 2008. All of the scholarship application materials are available on the AOTF website. Please note that only one application is necessary for all of the scholarships for which an applicant is eligible.
We encourage you to apply. Our goal is to give away every scholarship dollar every year. Please address questions to Jane Huntington, Scholarship Coordinator, at jhuntington@aotf.org.
History
The Scholarship Program is the oldest of the Foundation's programs dating back to the founding of AOTF in 1965. In the early 1980s AOTF expanded the program to include partnerships between individual state associations and AOTF to grant scholarships on their behalf.
The founders specified that AOTF scholarships be offered only to students enrolled in accredited academic occupational therapy programs and established the timetable on which the scholarship program continues to operate. AOTF accepts applications once a year. Scholarships available for an academic year are announced in the fall of each year, and applications are accepted until February of the following year. A Scholarship Selection Committee, comprised of volunteer occupational therapy practitioners and educators reviews all of the applications and recommends scholarship recipients. The AOTF Board of Directors makes the awards in the spring.
Components of AOTF Scholarships
The Foundation has a growing number of ongoing endowed scholarships, the funds of which are invested and managed by professional investment managers retained by AOTF. These scholarships are offered on a rotating basis. Each year some are "rested," in order to give the funds a chance to grow.
Today 21 states and the District of Columbia participate in the AOTF-State Scholarship partnership and collectively they offer approximately 43 scholarships per year. Many of these awards have grown over the years from humble beginnings to endowed funds that now support scholarships of $1,000 or more.
In addition, the Foundation is the beneficiary of corporate funding for scholarships. These funds are donated for limited time periods. The Foundation seeks to increase the number of corporate scholarships as well as to attract renewals of corporate scholarship donations.
For more information you may contact the AOTF Scholarship Coordinator, Jane Huntington, by email at jhuntington@aotf.org or by telephone at the AOTF office 301.652.6611 x2550.
