CHICAGO — Attendees of the 2013 Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS) heard an update on the 2013 GAAS Scholarship awards from Pete Kornafel, scholarship chairman.

Kornafel said he was pleased with the results of the program this year, in both applicant numbers and money provided to scholarship recipients.

For the 2013 program, there were 501 scholarship applicants, up from 494 in 2012, and just shy of the record in 2011 of 523 applications.

Kornafel said that this year, scholarships were awarded to 193 students with a total payout of $213,550.

Kornafel also reported that there were still about 13 groups expected to provide scholarship funding, and he expects the total number of students awarded money through the GAAS program to reach more than 250.

Of the students provided scholarships, 185 were enrolled in a college or NATEF-certified program, he said. Of those students, 83 percent have a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or greater. Nearly 50 percent of the high school recipients have a 3.0 GPA or better, as well.

Other updates Kornafel provided included the announcement of new scholarship providers, including the North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT) and the Mobil Air Conditioning Society (MACS).

Kornafel said although this year’s program was successful, there are still many automotive students who submitted an applicant who could benefit from scholarships. He requested GAAS attendees to join the GAAS scholarship program. "You can honor someone’s memory with a scholarship award," he said.

Scholarships are used for students training to become automotive, heavy-duty or collision repair technicians and to students in business, marketing, engineering or other major courses of study.

For more information on the GAAS scholarship program, visit www.automotivescholarships.com.