OREANDA-NEWS. September 15, 2016. Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that its newly established Huntington Ingalls Industries Scholarship Fund has awarded 78 scholarships to pre-kindergarten and post-secondary students.

HII first announced in March that it was establishing a scholarship fund that would be administered by Scholarship Management Services, a division of Scholarship America. The scholarship fund was formed to provide financial assistance to qualified and selected dependent children of HII employees who are pursuing a post-secondary college or technical/vocation degree and dependent children who are enrolled in quality pre-kindergarten school readiness programs.

“It’s exciting to see 78 children positively impacted by HII’s scholarship fund, and this is only the beginning,” HII President and CEO Mike Petters said. “As we continue this scholarship fund going forward, the number of children benefiting from this opportunity will grow. I know first-hand how this kind of opportunity can positively change someone’s path in life. I hope that for these 78 children, the HII scholarship fund will do just that.”

The opportunity to establish the program is the result of Petters declining his 2016 salary, but for \\$1, to fund the program. Other contributors who want to assist in the efforts to provide assistance to the children of HII employees may also donate to the scholarship fund.

Of the scholarships awarded, 30 were granted to post-secondary students in four-year education programs, 16 were granted to post-secondary students in two-year technical/vocation programs, and 32 were granted to students in pre-kindergarten school readiness programs. The parents of the scholarship awardees work across the HII enterprise.

Children of all HII employees are eligible to apply for the scholarship fund, with the exception of children of senior executives and those employees who have been with the company for less than two years. Guidelines and applications for the 2017 program will be available in early 2017.

Individual award amounts range from \\$1,500 for selected students enrolled in a two-year college program to \\$3,000 for selected students enrolled in a four-year program; the post-secondary awards are renewable for recipients who remain in good academic standing. The fund also awards scholarships of up to \\$3,000 for pre-school education costs.

The selection process for awards is independent of HII and based on both academic scholarship and financial need. No employee or officer of HII plays a part in the selection process.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of engineering, manufacturing and management services to the nuclear energy, oil and gas markets. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs nearly 35,000 people operating both domestically and internationally.