The Burger King Scholarship program provides grants totaling nearly $55 million to over 45,000 high school students, Burger King employees, and their families in North America.
It was created in memory of Burger King co-founder James “Jim” W. McLamore.
In 2022 alone, the Foundation awarded over $4.6 million in scholarships to nearly 4,000 students.
Scholarship grants vary from $1,000 to $50,000 and are designed to assist students in helping reduce the cost of attending college or a post-secondary vocational or technical institution.
Recipients are selected based on their grade point average (GPA), work experience, extracurricular activities, and community service.
James W. McLamore, co-founder of Burger King®, stood for integrity, high standards, entrepreneurial spirit, good citizenship, and education. They helped realize his dream—and they are the core of the Burger King McLamore Foundation.
Administered by the Foundation, the Burger King Scholars program helps high school seniors in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Canada continue their education.
I will outline the requirements and the categories for this scholarship.
Eligibility Requirements
The window for applying for the Scholarship opens every year in October and runs through December.
The application is relatively straightforward. However, the different categories also have different requirements.
Here are a few requirements for submitting your Burger King application:
Applicants must;
- Being a citizen of the United States, Canada, or Puerto Rico
- Be a high school senior (in the United States and Puerto Rico), a grade 12 student (in Canada), or a homeschool graduate in the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada.
- Have a high school overall grade point average of 2.0 or above on a 4.0 scale.
- Plan to enroll in a two- or four-year approved college, university, or vocational-technical school in the United States, Canada, or Puerto Rico.
NOTE: You don’t have to be a valedictorian to submit your Burger King application!
Categories of the Scholarship
There are mainly two categories of the Burger King Scholarship awards.
It is available to high school seniors who want to pursue an undergraduate course but cannot do so because of financing.
Employees who work in any Burger King Corporation are also recognized for their hard work and determination to access higher education.
Here are the categories and their requirements.
BURGER KING® General Track
All high school seniors who fulfill the qualifying standards and are enrolled in an undergraduate program at a college or university in the United States are eligible for this award.
To apply through the general application track, you must:
- Be a resident of Puerto Rico, Canada, or the United States
- Be a high school senior (U.S. And Puerto Rico), a grade 12 graduate (Canada), or a homeschool graduate in any of the three states.
- Possess a 2.5 or higher cumulative GPA in high school, or the equivalent, on a 4.0 scale.
- Plan to enroll in a two- or four-year accredited college, university, or vocational-technical school in the United States, Canada, or Puerto Rico full-time and without interruption for the entire upcoming academic year.
BURGER KING® Employee-Based Track
Available to employees, their spouses or domestic partners, and their dependent children who are enrolled in an accredited college or university in the United States to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree.
In that case, you should definitely apply if you work for Burger King.
The Burger King Scholars program truly appreciates diligent workers and wants to see them be successful in pursuing higher education.
You must adhere to the following criteria in order to apply via the employee-based track.
- Be living in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico.
- Be an employee of Burger King Corporation or a participating BURGER KING® franchise.
- Legally married spouse (unless separated) or domestic partner of an employee of Burger King Corporation
- Be a dependent child of an employee of Burger King Corporation or Franchisees (Designated Employer)
- A graduating high school senior, have a GED, graduating from grade 12 or homeschool education in any of the three states
- Must be current college undergraduates or graduate level students in the U.S., Puerto Rico or Canada
- Have a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher on an equivalent 4.0 scale.
- Plan to enroll for the upcoming academic year at an accredited two or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school in the U.S., Canada or Puerto Rico
For you to qualify as an employee, you must be active for six months on the designated employer’s payroll before the application deadline.
**A domestic partner is defined as the employee’s sole partner and must do so indefinitely. They must live in the same house together indefinitely.
An employee and their domestic partner must both be at least eighteen (18) years old and mentally competent to consent to a contract.
The employee and domestic partners are not related by blood in a way that would preclude marriage under the applicable law in their state of residence.
Employees and their domestic partners must not be legally married to anyone else or be involved in any other relationship.
**Dependent children may be biological, step-or legally adopted by the employee.
** Employees can be enrolled either part-time or full-time. Children of employees must be enrolled during the academic year.
James W. McLamore WHOPPER® Scholarship
To be considered for the W. McLamore scholarship, applicants must meet the additional necessary requirements. The scholarship awards $50,000 to its successful applicants.
- Must be a resident of the United States, Canada, or Puerto Rico.
- Have a cumulative unweighted grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.3
- Has a minimum ACT Composite score of 25 or a minimum combined SAT score of 1220
- Demonstrate an active leadership role in community service, athletics, and/or similar co-curricular activity (such as student government, team sports, fraternal life, etc.)
- Demonstrate substantial work experience and financial need
- Not be an officer, director, spouses/domestic partners or child of an officer or director of the BURGER KING℠ McLamore Foundation
Burger King Scholarship Incentives
The various categories of the Burger King scholarship are worth different amounts, ranging from $1,000 to $50,000. The majority of recipients will receive $1,000 in grants, but each year the Burger King Scholars program also awards:
- Up to 3 James W. McLamore WHOPPER® scholarships of $50,000 granted to the most highly qualified students demonstrating leadership, substantial work experience and financial need.
- Up to 12 Regional awards of $5,000 granted to the two most qualified employees in each of six regions from the pool of eligible and complete applicants.
- One (1) Steven M. Lewis Foundation award of $5,000 granted to the most qualified U.S. Restaurants employee from eligible and submitted, applicants aligned to the U.S. Restaurants.
- Up to four (4) Bravokilo, Inc./Bravotampa, LLC awards of $5,000 granted to the most qualified Bravokilo, Inc./Bravotampa, LLC employees from the pool of eligible and submitted applicants aligned to Bravokilo, Inc. or Bravotampa, LLC.
- One (1) Ghai Management award of $5,000 granted to the most qualified Ghai Management employee from the pool of eligible and submitted applicants aligned to Ghai Management.
- One (1) Carrols LLC award of $5,000 granted to the most qualified Carrols LLC employee from the pool of eligible and submitted applicants aligned to Carrols LLC.
How to Apply and Documents Required
Since the Burger King Scholarship Program is officially administered by Scholarship America®, you’ll need to create an account there to access the official application. Once your account is registered, you can begin completing the application in English, Spanish, or French.
The application will require you to upload the following documents
- A list of your work experiences and involvement in school and community activities
- A current transcript of high school grades
- BURGER KING® employee information
- A copy of your parents’ most recent tax form filed with the IRS or Revenue Canada
Once uploaded, cross-check and submit the application. Scholarship America® will email you afterward to acknowledge they’ve received your application.
Conclusion
The application for the Burger King Scholarship doesn’t require things like essays or recommendation letters.
The Burger King Scholarship is generously awarded to high school seniors every year and is one of several significant college scholarship programs offered by similar companies in the restaurant industry.
Awards are granted to students or their employees without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender, disability, or national origin.
Scholarship America, Inc. Bases its decision to award you the scholarship on your academic record. So, make sure to study hard for all of your classes and exams.
Students who are awarded the scholarship will receive scholarship checks by mail. Winners must then notify their college or university about the award and deliver the scholarship check to the school as soon as possible.
As a winner of a Burger King scholarship, you can use your award money to pay for tuition, fees, and required books at your university in the United States, Canada, or Puerto Rico.
The scholarship application opens in October of every academic year and closes in December.