Most Culinary Arts programs are very expensive. The odds of being able to get more than a small percentage of your tuition paid by scholarships are very small. There are however a lot of sources to pick up small but not insignificant amounts of money to help you along.
The single best source for information about available scholarship monies is the Financial Aid Office at your school. They will know of all available funds available from school sponsors, alumni and organizations that support the program. Get all the applications you come close to qualifying for and fill them out and submit them. Follow the directions exactly, often the process is more important than your actual need.
The next source is to look at your own community. If you are in High School or just out check with your Guidance Counselor. It is also possible that your parents employer(or yours) might offer assistance of some sort. If you or your parents are in a union check on scholarships or education programs. Many local organizations like Elks, Rotary, Masons, Chamber of Commerce offer funds for scholarships. Your local ACF Chapter will also be able to point you to potential sources and many offer members scholarships. Restaurant Associations, Club Manager Associations and many other types of foundations and groups with local representation offer funds to aspiring Culinarians. Meat packers, large food distributors and spirits vendors also frequently offer scholarship funds.
In the resources area below there are links to all the documented Culinary specific scholarship resources I could find, and below that a link to that are in the EOL Web Directory for more generic resources. Do you homework, and you will be able to find hundreds or possible even thousands of dollars to help you with those big tuition bills.
Here is a list of Scholarship resource websites.
- American Academy of Chefs (AAC)through the American Culinary Federation Foundation (ACFF), offers educational scholarships to those currently attending culinary schools, and to professional chefs already working in the hospitality industry looking to further their education.
- AAC Chair's Scholarship
- Balestreri/Cutino Scholarship
- Chaine des Rotisseurs Scholarship
- Julia Child Memorial Scholarship
- Spice Box Grant Note: See Eligibility Requirements with Application.
- FastWEB, Financial Aid Search Through the WEB The largest and most complete scholarship search on the Internet. It provides access to a database of more than 400,000 private sector scholarships, fellowships, grants and student loans. !
- The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation Scholarships
- The Culinary Trust (IACP) Awesome collection of information
- The scholarship program of the James Beard Foundation
- The Charlie Trotter Culinary Education Foundation
- The Jefferson Evans Scholarship Foundation
- International Cake Exploration Societé (ICES) Scholarship
- National Italian American Foundation Scholarships
- Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International Foundation (HSMAI)
