Four times per year, the mikeroweWORKS Foundation awards work ethic scholarships to hard-working, disciplined young men and women to help them offset the education, tool and startup costs of entering the trades.
To be eligible, candidates must meet the following criteria:
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Be a high school senior, high school graduate or have a GED equivalent.
- Be enrolled or plan to enroll in an approved trade-related program at an accredited two-year college, vocational or technical school or other approved technical institute in the United States. Four-year degree or bachelor programs are not eligible.
- Be able to provide a current tuition bill or cost statement from your school. You cannot submit an application without providing it.
- Former scholarship recipients can apply for second-year funding.
The application process includes the following tasks that must be completed.
- Enroll in an approved program, such as a farrier school.
- Sign the S.W.E.A.T. – “Skill & Work Ethic Aren’t Taboo” – Pledge.
- Answer 4 questions about the S.W.E.A.T. Pledge.
- Make a video in which applicants answer a specific question and show who they are in 45-60 seconds.
- Submit two references from a boss, supervisor, teacher or someone you have reported to.
- Verify your school costs.
- Provide a high school or college transcript.
“We’re on a mission to help close the skills gap by challenging the stigmas and stereotypes that discourage people from pursuing the millions of available jobs,” according to the Foundation’s website.
Since the program began in 2014, over $16 million in scholarships have been granted to over 2,600 people.
“We offer Work Ethic Scholarships because, frankly, I don’t think anybody else is,” Mike Rowe says. “We wanted to do something that would at least bring the conversation of work ethic into the mix. We ask our recipients to jump through some hoops. We ask them to make videos, and write essays, and submit references. We ask them to sign a S.W.E.A.T. Pledge.”
Several farriers have been recipients of the Work Ethic Scholarships, including Bryanna Solmonson of Lexington, Mo., who graduated from Heartland Horseshoeing School; Hope Richardson of Berea, Ky., Emily Robinson of Nicholson, Pa., Dillon Johnson of Nancy, Ky., and Annabelle Orlowski of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, all graduates of Kentucky Horseshoeing School. Two additional farriers awarded scholarships include Emerie and Dawson, who were highlighted on the mikeroweWORKS Foundation Facebook page.
The next deadline to submit a scholarship application is June 30, 2026, with decisions announced in August. For those who submitted an application by the April 30 deadline, announcements will be made in June. Additional scholarship deadlines are August 30 and October 31, 2026.
Learn more about the mikeroweWORKS Work Ethic Scholarship here.
