Scholarships for Culinary Arts Degree Students

Getting a culinary degree is more popular than ever, especially thanks to the recent success of many cooking shows and celebrity chefs. While such fame and acclaim aren’t guaranteed with a culinary degree, it’s a great place to start – the culinary program teaches the fundamentals of cooking, food safety and healthy eating. More importantly, a culinary degree is an excellent first step toward a career in the food industry.

There is a cornucopia of financing options to help pay for a culinary degree, although sifting through all of them can be daunting and confusing. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the scholarships available to culinary students. Taking the time to apply for even just two or three can make a big difference when it comes to financing your culinary education.

Financial aid is offered by several sources, including the federal government, state government, the school itself and private organizations.

Federal Loans & Grants: At the federal level, most financial aid comes from the US Department of Education in the form of grants, loans and work-study. Grants do not need to be repaid, work-study aid is earned through working while in school, and loans must be repaid, but when offered by the federal government, the terms are favorable compared to other loan options.

State-Based Aid: Students may be eligible for state-based aid from the state in which they live. Each state has its own department or agency to handle state-based financial aid, as well as its own set of financial aid offerings. To determine who administers state-based financial aid as well as find out what’s available, please visit the US Department of Education’s website for a comprehensive list of each state’s respective financial aid department of agency.

Schools: Each school will also have its own set of exclusive financial aid options available to its students. Usually the financial aid offerings specific to each school will be comprised of scholarships and grants. Often, the school will have an endowment with a list of scholarships or grants available to deserving students, whether it’s based on financial need or academic success.

Private Aid: The last major source of financial aid comes from private organizations, which almost exclusively offer scholarships, grants and private student loans. Students can take advantage of a huge number of grants and scholarships offered by charities, corporations, non-profit organizations and service organizations. Loans are primarily offered by financial institutions. Private student loans are usually more expensive (and with less general terms) than loans from the federal government, but still cheaper than some other forms of borrowing, such as credit cards. As a result, a student should exhaust all federal and state (if applicable) loan options before applying for a private student loan.

Given the large number of financial aid options available, it’s not surprising that it takes an enormous amount of time to sort through them. Here are a few starting points to help expedite the financial aid process.

Culinary students have the Internet to help them find any number of scholarships, grants, loans and more. From advice to available financial aid, it can all be found online. There are also many scholarships websites that allow culinary students to find aid based on factors other than area of study, such as school, location and demographic information. A few good financial aid resources include:

The School’s Financial Aid Office: As discussed earlier, many financial aid options are unique to the particular school. Most schools will list all of the financial aid options available to students on its financial aid office’s website. There will also be information to help apply for financial aid and answer any questions.

Culinary Organizations: Many professional organizations have a portion of their funds available to students to help pay for a formal culinary education. Most of the aid will be in the form of scholarships or grants and will be based on academic merit, financial need or the student’s demographics. Some culinary organizations that offer scholarships include:

There are many different types of grants available to culinary students. One of the most important is the Pell Grant. The fact that a student is getting a culinary arts degree has no bearing on Pell Grant eligibility. Pell Grants often serve as the starting point for most financial aid packages students receive.

A Pell Grant is awarded to all students who meet the eligibility criteria, such as working toward an undergraduate degree and financial need. For the 2015-2016 award year, the Pell Grant amounts to $5,775. Students can receive the Pell Grant for six years or 12 semesters. Like other grants, the Pell Grant does not need to be repaid.

Many states have Pell Grant “equivalents” where grants are issued to students based on financial need and do not need to be repaid. For example, Pennsylvania has the PA State Grant which offers a maximum of $4,011 per year; Ohio has the Ohio College Opportunity Grant which offers a maximum of $2,592 per year; and Kentucky has the College Access Program Grant and the Kentucky Tuition Grant which offer $1,900 and $2,910 per year, respectively. Most of these state grants require students to be residents of the states from which they are requesting aid.

Keep in mind that some grants will only be awarded to students who are attending accredited schools. To ensure that all financial aid opportunities are available, students should ensure that their chosen school is accredited before applying for grants.

If a culinary student wants to apply for financial aid, they start by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®). This is even if the student only expects to apply for merit-based scholarships offered by a specific school or state-based grants. Almost all schools and states require students requesting financial aid to complete the FAFSA^®. Below are some key points to remember:

The FAFSA^® can be filled out online or on paper.

Apply early! There usually isn’t enough financial aid to give to all the students to fill out the FAFSA^®. This means first come, first served, so the sooner a student applies, the more likely they will get a financial aid award and the bigger it will be.

State and school deadlines usually differ from the federal FAFSA^® deadline, which is October 1st. Check each state and school for the exact FAFSA^® filing deadline.

Since tax information is needed to fill out the FAFSA^®, students and their parents need to complete their income tax return as soon as possible. If the tax return isn’t complete fast enough, the FAFSA^® can still be completed, but will need estimated tax information, which will then need to be updated when the income tax return is done.

In order to complete the FAFSA^®, dependent students will need the following:

Even if students know the information by heart, they should still have relevant documents in hand, in case the school asks for verification of the FAFSA^® information.

Federal financial aid that requires the FAFSA^® includes: Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, Perkins Loans and participation in the Federal Work-Study Program.

If the student has any questions when filling out the FAFSA^®, they can get free advice from the US Department of Education: www.fafsa.gov and 1-800-4-FED-AID.

Many schools require the FAFSA^® to be completed in order to award academic merit scholarships. Therefore, even if a student knows they will not qualify for need-based aid, a FAFSA^® may still need to be completed.

In calculating a student’s financial need with information provided by the FAFSA^®, any home equity in the student’s family’s main home is not considered. Also not considered are consumer debts and the retirement accounts of the parents.

The FAFSA^® will need to be completed for each year the student expects to receive financial aid. Therefore, for a four year college degree, a student will need to complete the FAFSA^® four times.

A majority of the financial aid award will be based on a completed FAFSA^® and the sooner the FAFSA^® is completed, the sooner the financial aid can be granted.

There are many scholarships out there, with varying eligibility requirements that range from major to geographic location to race and religious affiliation. Culinary students will be well served by finding the scholarships that best relate to them.

Many scholarships have requirements that may take a bit of time, such as essays or letters of recommendation. It makes sense to get started on those essays and find recommenders as soon as possible, since those application components will likely take the most time to complete.

It might take some time to find a topic, write the essay, then go through several revisions and drafts. Also, if outside help is sought to help with the essays, the student may be beholden to another individual’s schedule.

Many scholarships and grants are highly competitive, with hundreds of applicants for just a few awards. Making sure the application is submitted on time can reduce one reason to be denied the scholarship or grant.

It might be necessary to gently remind a recommender to get the letter of recommendation done due to an upcoming application deadline. Also, if mailing an application, it might be useful to call or e-mail the organization to make sure the application was received and if so, that it’s complete. If something is left out, it helps to find out sooner rather than later.