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Collision Repair Education Foundation

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Our History

In the 1980s, the collision industry was facing its first critical shortage of qualified and well-trained entry-level employees. The country’s technical education system was no longer able to produce enough high-caliber graduates to meet industry needs. In response, industry partners created the Collision Repair Education Foundation in 1991. The Foundation’s charge was to develop, promote, and distribute a curriculum program designed to teach the skills most needed by entry-level employees of collision repair shops. Today, nearly two-thirds of the 1,370 collision repair schools in the United States use the I-CAR Live or Advance-Tech curriculum.

But creating and providing a curriculum to meet collision industry needs was only part of the solution to the problem. Secondary and post-secondary schools nationwide have experienced severe funding cuts from national, state, and local sources. As a result, schools are unable to provide adequate funding for their collision training programs, despite full class enrollment. In addition, collision repair students traditionally have not been offered the same scholarship and financial aid support as their counterparts in other post-secondary educational institutions.

In 2008, the Collision Repair Education Foundation transformed itself into a traditional philanthropic organization, partnering with industry donors to fill the funding gap that hinders the collision industry. In our first year, we provided more than $1.7 million in grants for collision education. The Education Foundation is committed to continuing to award substantial annual support, both to students and to collision training programs. We are also committed to promoting the collision industry as an excellent career in one of the last real “hands-on” trades in existence—a time-honored trade that offers challenging work requiring skill and aptitude in a field offering growth and opportunity.

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Benchmark Grant Career Fair Career Fairs Collision School Career Readiness Benchmark Donations Fundraisers Hire Our Heroes Nominations Resume Database Scholarships Student of the Year TopGolf Top Tech Competition

Latest Posts

  • 12 Days of CREF-mas Winter Giving Campaign December 11, 2020
  • Collision Repair Education Foundation Executive Director Clark Plucinski to Retire November 20, 2020
  • Upcoming Winter Virtual Golf Fundraiser To Support Local Collision Programs October 12, 2020
  • 3M Donates Signature Event with Chip Foose to Support Military Veterans and Collision School Programs September 17, 2020
  • CREF TopGolf Chicago Fundraiser Friday, November 20th September 2, 2020

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About the Foundation


The Collision Repair Education Foundation is a national nonprofit and tax-exempt student organization under the Internal Revenue Service Code, Section (501)(c)(3).

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ADDRESS:
Collision Repair Education Foundation
5125 Trillium Blvd.
Hoffman Estates, IL 60192

PHONE: 888.722.3787
Email: info@ed-foundation.org

Recent Posts

  • 12 Days of CREF-mas Winter Giving Campaign
  • Collision Repair Education Foundation Executive Director Clark Plucinski to Retire
  • Upcoming Winter Virtual Golf Fundraiser To Support Local Collision Programs
  • 3M Donates Signature Event with Chip Foose to Support Military Veterans and Collision School Programs
  • CREF TopGolf Chicago Fundraiser Friday, November 20th

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