2024 College Scholar Awards

Applications are now closed

Applications will open around August 2025, please check back then.

Purpose

Every fall, the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society Scholars Award Program provides financial support to eligible students who are pursuing careers in aviation and are enrolled in colleges or aviation trade schools in Florida. 

 Jannus Scholars program

In January of 1914, Tony Jannus flew a paying passenger from St. Petersburg to Tampa in a Benoist airboat. This achievement established the Tampa Bay area as the home of the first scheduled commercial airline. Each year, the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society celebrates this historic aviation achievement by recognizing a distinguished individual for outstanding contributions to scheduled air transportation.

The society also looks to the future by providing scholars awards to eligible undergraduate college students and trade school students who are enrolled in programs that could result in careers in aviation. The 2024 awards program has three elements:

Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society Scholars Award

The Society plans to provide up to seven students a cash award of $4,000 each. At least one award will be given to an aviation trade school applicant.

Southwest Airlines Jannus Award

Southwest Airlines is sponsoring an additional travel award to each of the seven Scholars Award recipients by providing two roundtrip tickets to any destination they serve. Southwest Airlines is committed to education advancement and invests in workforce development programs that introduce students to the diverse set of career opportunities in the aviation industry. From pilots to accountants and everything in between, Southwest offers a range of opportunities to help students soar to new heights in jobs of the future. Southwest is a proud partner of The Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society and supports their mission to promote and provide support to students pursuing a career in commercial aviation. 

Richard Newton Memorial Award

A supplemental award of $4,000 will be provided to the highest scoring applicant in memory of past Tony Jannus President, Col. Richard Newton Jr. 

 How to Apply

Eligibility 

In order to be eligible for consideration as a Tony Jannus Scholar, applicants must meet the following requirements:

Colleges and Universities - Students must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program from an accredited college or university within the state of Florida Student must have completed at least 30 credit hours with an overall GPA of at least 3.0 at the time of the application.

Aviation Trade Schools - Students must be currently enrolled in an aviation maintenance program with an accredited aviation vocational trade school within the state of Florida.  Students must have completed at least 25% of the program with an overall GPA of at least 3.0 or percent score of 86% at the time of the application.

Application Process:

The application requires input from the student’s faculty and will require answering the questions below:

·       How and when the Applicant first became interested in aviation.

·       How aviation has already impacted life choices related to academic, service, and/or occupation decisions.

·       How Tony Jannus has affected the Applicant's existing thinking with respect to aviation as a potential career.

·      Any additional personal observations the Applicant considers relevant to the Committee’s evaluation process.

Note:

·          Graduate students and previous Jannus Award recipients are not eligible to apply.

·          Applicants that do not meet all of the application requirements will not be considered.

·          Applications will be screened and those that are found to have been prepared using Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs such as ChatGPT will be disqualified.

·          Additional materials sent that are not requested will not be considered in the evaluation process.

·          Applications submitted after the due date will not be considered.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee comprised of Tony Jannus Society board members. 

Applications will be evaluated considering the following criteria:

·       Academic achievement

·       Quality of essay

·       General accomplishments

·       Demonstrated commitment to aviation

·       Subjective factors as deemed appropriate by the Committee

Winners will be notified around October 16, 2024 and invited to receive their awards at the annual Tony Jannus Awards Dinner on November 16, 2024 at the  J.W. Marriott Hotel in Tampa.

How to submit

Applications are now closed.