CRAEF scholarship qualifications and procedure

The application deadline is March 31 for undergraduate students and high school seniors.

Applicant qualifications

CRAEF scholarship applicant qualifications:
  • U.S. citizenship or permanent residency
  • California residency (although students may attend an out-of-state school)
  • enrollment in a minimum of nine credit hours at an accredited post-secondary school
  • minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale (applicants who do not have a GPA or who have concerns about their GPA should contact CRAEF at 800.765.4842 to discuss alternate requirements)
  • satisfy the minimum hours of industry-related work experience (paid or voluntary) of:
    • 250 hours for high school students going into freshmen year
    • 400 hours for college freshmen going into sophomore year
    • 550 hours for those beyond sophomore year
    • all work experience must be verified through paycheck stubs or a signed letter from employer(s)—please do not send copies of your W-2
  • be enrolled or will enroll in two consecutive semesters or terms
  • completion of at least one grading term of a post-secondary program or be a high school senior going directly to a post-secondary school
Required documentation:
  • signed copy of application
  • a typed, double-spaced essay on a separate piece of paper and submitted with the application (essay instructions are in section four of the scholarship application)
  • copy of program curriculum (from college catalog or Web site) with the major/degree listed, the number of credit hours and all degree requirements shown
  • high school or college transcript (transcripts do not have to be a sealed official copy, however they must be from the school)
  • proof you have satisfied the required restaurant and hospitality industry work experience as mentioned above (proof can be provided in the form of paycheck stubs or a letter from an employer(s) verifying hours worked—please do not send copies of your W-2)
  • one to three letters of recommendation from current or previous employer(s) in the restaurant or hospitality industry
How to apply:

The online application process is managed by a third party. It's simple to register. Apply here.

Reasons for disqualification, restrictions and ineligibility:
  • incomplete or late application
  • incomplete documentation
  • fraudulent responses to application, essay or eligibility requirements
  • ineligibility due to unmet hours of work experience, units enrolled, CGPA or residency
  • submission of multiple CRAEF scholarship applications for the same year
  • entering the last semester before graduation
Judging

CRAEF scholarships are competitively awarded to qualified applicants based on their application, essay, experience and interview. Top applicants will be contacted by e-mail six to eight weeks after the deadline for an interview with the CRAEF scholarship panel which is comprised of educators and industry leaders. Judges scores are based on:

  • application (spelling, grammar, content, etc.)
  • essay content (quality of writing, word count, etc.)
  • industry-related experience
  • personal interview
Notification

If you are selected for an interview, you will be notified six to eight weeks after the scholarship deadline with further instructions on the location and time of the interview. Interviews will be held the last week of May and the first week of June. Winners will be notified three to four weeks after the interview. If you are awarded a CRAEF scholarship, you will be contacted and given instructions on how to claim your funding. CRAEF scholarship winners are chosen once per year and the scholarships are paid over two consecutive school terms.

Please mail your application and all required documentation to:

CRAEF scholarship program
621 Capitol Mall, Suite 2000
Sacramento, CA 95814

If you have any questions about the CRAEF scholarship program, please contact craefinfo@calrest.org.