Financial aid is available for students at culinary arts schools.
An education at a good culinary arts program is the foundation to a career as a chef or another job in the food and beverage business. These programs can be taken at community colleges or more specialized culinary arts schools. However, the costs can range from $4000 for short courses all the way up to $40,000 for a degree program. Fortunately, financing options are available from both the federal government and the educational institutions themselves, such as scholarships, grants and loans.
Needs-based Federal Programs
These include the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and the Academic Competitiveness Grant (SEOG). Demonstrated needs-based students who do not yet hold a college (Bachelor's) degree can apply for a Federal Pell Grant, which range from $555 to $5500 a year, or the SEOG, which provides $750 to freshmen and $1300 to sophomores.
Federal Student Aid Information Center
1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243)
http://studentaid.ed.gov
Needs-based State Programs
To find out about programs you may be eligible for in your state, it is best to contact the culinary school directly. For example, students at the French Culinary Institute and the Culinary Institute of America, both located in New York state, are eligible for state grants from New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, Connecticut and Michigan if they are residents in any of these areas. In addition, the New York State Department of Labor's National Emergency Grant provides eligible applicants in Career and Amateur programs with up to $12,500 if they have become dislocated due to business closing or layoffs at certain financial service companies.
The French Culinary Institute
462 Broadway
New York, NY 10013-2618
888-324-2433
http://www.frenchculinary.com
Office of Financial Aid
The Culinary Institute of America
1946 Campus Drive
Hyde Park, NY 12538-1499
845-451-1243
http://www.ciachef.edu
Employment and Training Administration
U.S. Department of Labor
Frances Perkins Building
200 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20210
http://www.doleta.gov/NEG
Merit-based Scholarships
The best option for academically-gifted students who do not qualify for grants is to obtain an institute-specific scholarship. At the Culinary Institute of America, these include the High-Impact Leader Scholarship, the SAT/ACT Achievement Scholarship, the First Generation Inner-City Scholarship and the National Student Organizations Competition Scholarship. At Le Cordon Bleu campuses across the U.S., scholarships include the Future Chef of America Competition, Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Market Basket and Le Cordon Bleu Pastry Market Basket. Smaller institutes, such as the Culinary Academy of Austin in Texas, offer scholarships from $100-$2000, while the Art Institute of California offers the Art Institutes Scholarship Competition, Art Institutes Merit Awards, Art Institutes National Scholarships (including Best Teen Chef Competition) and ProStart program scholarships.
Culinary Academy of Austin
6020-B Dillard Circle Drive
Austin, Texas 78752
512.451.5743
http://www.culinaryacademyofaustin.com
The ProStart School-To-Career Program
230 South Adams Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
1-850-224-2250
http://www.fra-stc.org
The Art Institute of California --- San Francisco
1170 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102-4928
1-415-865-0198
http://www.artinstitutes.edu
Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Minneapolis/St. Paul
1315 Mendota Heights Road
Mendota Heights, MN 55120
1-888-348-5222
http://www.chefs.edu/
