So it turns out, college is expensive. In fact, it can be so expensive that sometimes the cost can prevent deserving students from accessing the education they want and need.
When you’re looking for ways to help pay for college, sometimes the most unexpected places are the exact places you need to look.
A place like Burger King, for example!
You probably think of, well, burgers, when you think of Burger King (which is totally reasonable), but there is a whole other side to Burger King that you may know less about: They also award the Burger King Scholarship to deserving students every year through the Burger King Foundation, and these can range anywhere from $1,000 to $60,000!
Feelin’ hungry? Let’s dive in.
What is the Burger King Scholarship and Scholars Program?
Burger King’s co-founder, James W. McLamore, believed strongly in the power and necessity of education, and the Burger King Scholarships were established in 2000 to carry on his mission of helping students gain access to education through financial assistance.
In 2024, the Foundation awarded over $4.5 million in scholarships to nearly 4,200 students, and Burger King has the amazing goal of granting one scholarship for every Burger King restaurant every year (which adds up to around $7 million in annual awards)!
The Burger King Foundation is a global organization, which allows them to partner with many other educational non-profits in their efforts to help ensure access to education. By zeroing in on literacy efforts, supportable and sustainable learning environments, and scholarship programs, the Foundation has been able to help thousands of students pay for college or technical school.
Students planning to attend a college or university or vocational school or technical school are eligible to apply.
The application process for the Burger King Scholarship considers a student’s:
grades
work experience
extracurricular activities
community service
and financial need.
Through the Burger King Scholars Program, more than 51,000 students have been awarded more than $60 million.
Let’s explore how you can become one of them.
Burger King Scholarship Eligibility, Requirements, and Guidelines
As with any scholarship, the Burger King Scholarship has specific guidelines about who is and is not eligible to apply. The good news is the eligibility requirements are pretty straightforward, and you should be able to tell quickly if this is a scholarship you can apply for.
The Burger King Scholarships are open to graduating high school seniors, Burger King employees and their spouses/domestic partners, and the children of Burger King employees in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
Note that you do not have to be a Burger King employee or be related to one in order to qualify for the Burger King Scholarship. As long as you’re a high school senior who fulfills the eligibility requirements, you’re good to go!
An applicant must:
Live in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, or Guam
Be a graduating high school senior
Have a high school GPA of at least 2.0 (check this out for more detail about GPAs)
Be enrolled for the entire academic year at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, or vocational/technical school in the U.S. Canada, Puerto Rico, or Guam
Show evidence of work experience or community service
Demonstrate financial need
Fulfilling these requirements doesn’t mean you’ll automatically receive a Burger King Scholarship, but it DOES mean you are eligible to apply!
And if for some reason, you don’t meet these requirements, click here for some other ideas about how to help pay for college!
One other note about community service—you need to show your commitment to serving others, and that doesn’t mean finding a volunteer opportunity just so you can fulfill this part of the scholarship requirements. You will be asked to detail your volunteering experience (including how long you’ve been a volunteer), s0 just be aware that application readers will be paying attention to this.
How to apply for the Burger King Scholarship
The Burger King Scholarship application is, thankfully, also straightforward (unlike many things associated with college applications)! Students are required to:
Fill out an online application (which you can access here)
Turn in a current high school transcript
Submit a copy of the first two pages of their parents’ or guardians’ IRS 1040 income tax form or T-1 Canadian income tax return (this might feel a little nosy, but this is how you demonstrate financial need)
Submit at least one online recommendation (likely from a teacher, school counselor, or work or volunteer supervisor)
Submit the completed application between October 15 and December 15
Note that you do NOT have to include an essay.
While the application form will ask you to discuss your work or volunteering experience, you don’t have to do that in essay form.
We know applying for scholarships can be daunting (sometimes as daunting as applying to college), but there are people out there who want to help you afford things like tuition, books, and room and board!
The Burger King Scholarship is firmly rooted in the belief that education is essential for young people to reach their full potential. If you’re eligible for the Burger King Scholarship, it means you’ve worked hard at school, outside of school, and in your community. You should get rewarded for these efforts wherever you can.
After reading about the Burger King Scholarship, you might be wondering if there are other scholarships you’ve never considered (or maybe never heard of). There are!
You can start by checking these out:
The Coca Cola Scholarship is for students committed to community service and leadership.
The Pepsi Scholarship Program includes 10 different scholarships.
And these are just two of the countless others out there!
There are so many ways to get financial help for college (here's even more info for you), and we encourage you to visit your school’s financial aid office to see what you might be eligible for. You can also visit the financial aid websites for any colleges you’re thinking of applying to since many schools offer their own scholarships as well.
How much is the HOPE Scholarship worth?
That depends on the school! You can click here to find this information for a specific Georgia school, but just remember that HOPE Scholarships intend to help with college tuition (not pay for it entirely).
What do I do to continue to qualify?
Good and important question! Once you get the HOPE Scholarship, the next step is to KEEP the HOPE Scholarship.
To do this, you must maintain a minimum cumulative 3.0 GPA at specific checkpoints. At the end-of-spring, you must have 30/60/90 attempted semester hours or 45/90/135 quarter hours. You can, unfortunately, lose the HOPE Scholarship if your GPA falls below the minimum at one of the checkpoints and can only re-qualify for the scholarship once. So, keep those grades up!
College students can no longer receive the HOPE Scholarship once they reach 127 credit hours (so, you can’t count on this scholarship if you’re ten years into your college career).
What are the limitations of the HOPE Scholarship?
There are just a few limitations, but they are important ones. Students can no longer receive the HOPE Scholarship if they:
Reach seven years after high school graduation and are still pursuing their college degree
Hit the 127 hours quarter or semester limit
Graduate! (if only they would keep giving you money after you get your degree!)
We wish we lived in a world in which financial concerns about attending college didn’t exist, but they do. The bright side is that states and organizations WANT to help! The Georgia HOPE Scholarship has become a model for other states, so if you’re headed to the Peach State, make sure to check with your school about getting access to this financial award!
Special thanks to Jessica B. for writing this blog post
Jessica has a Ph.D in English from the University of Southern California and teaches English at a Los Angeles-area independent school, where she has also been English department chair and a class dean. Sandra Cisneros is her hero, and she loves books, her awesomely-sarcastic family, the beach, cozy sweaters, and more books. Oh, and her sweet pitbull/lab mix named Ruby.
Top values: Curiosity, equity, wonder
