BURGER KING℠ Scholars
BURGER KING℠ Scholars
The Burger King Foundation is a U.S. based 501(c)(3) public nonprofit that believes without education you limit your potential to be your own way. Inspired by Burger King Restaurants co-founder, Jim McLamore, The Burger King Foundation believes in empowerment through education and lending a helping hand, when needed, thus allowing you to live life your way. To this end, we supply emergency relief to our employees and provide essential resources to help the students of today and the scholars of tomorrow discover their full potential.
Through the BK℠ Scholars program, we’ve awarded nearly $64 million to over 55,000 deserving students across North America. Our goal is to grant one scholarship for every BK® restaurant — that’s more than $7 million each year!
Scholarships range from $1,000 to $60,000 and are intended to offset the cost of attending college or post-secondary vocational/technical school. Recipients are selected through an application process that takes into consideration their grade point average (GPA), work experience, extracurricular activities, community service, and financial need. In 2025 alone, the Foundation awarded over $4.4 million in scholarships to over 4,000 students.
The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.
Eligibility
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
BURGER KING® General Track – Available to all high school seniors or past recipients who meet the criteria below.
Applicants must-
- Be living in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada
- Have a cumulative high school grade point average of 2.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale, or the equivalent
- Plan to enroll full-time, without interruption, for the entire 2026-27 academic year at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school or CEGEP or equivalent in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada
AND - Be first-time applicants who are graduating 2026 high school seniors (U.S., Puerto Rico, and Guam), graduating from grade 12 (Canada) or graduating from homeschool education in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, or Canada
OR - Be a past recipient of the Burger King Scholarship who is a current college undergraduate
BURGER KING® Employee-Based Track
Note: The Employee-Based Track will have two components as follows.
1) Employees, spouses or domestic partners of employees, and dependent children of employees pursuing a traditional postsecondary education
Applicants must-
- Be living in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada
- Be an employee* of Burger King Company LLC or a participating BURGER KING® franchisee (Franchisees)
OR - Be a spouse (unless legally separated) or domestic partner** of an employee* of Burger King Company LLC or Franchisees
OR - Be a dependent child*** of an employee* of Burger King Company LLC or Franchisees (Designated Employer)
AND - Be graduating high school seniors (U.S., Puerto Rico and Guam) or have attained a GED, graduating from grade 12 (Canada), graduating from home school education in the U.S., Puerto Rico or Canada or current college undergraduates or graduate level students in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada
- Have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale or the equivalent
- Plan to enroll part-time or full-time, without interruption for the 2026-27 academic year at an accredited two or four-year college, university, or vocational-technical school or CEGEP or equivalent in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada
* Employees must be active on Designated Employer’s payroll for at least 3 months as of the application deadline date and employed at the time awards are verified.
** Domestic partner is defined as (i) Employee’s sole Domestic Partner and intend to remain so indefinitely; (ii) Employee and Domestic Partner reside together in the same principal residence and intend to reside together indefinitely; (iii) Employee and Domestic Partner are both at least eighteen (18) years old and mentally competent to consent to a contract; (iv) Employee and Domestic Partner are not related by blood in a close enough manner that would bar marriage under applicable law in effect where they reside; and (v) Employee and Domestic Partner are not legally married to anyone else and are not involved in any other Domestic Partnership.
*** Dependent children are defined as biological, step- or legally adopted children living in the employee’s household or primarily supported by the employee.
2) Employees and spouses or domestic partners of employees pursuing an enrichment program (Enrichment programs include, but are not limited to, language, computer and accounting courses.)
Applicants must-
- Be living in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada
- Be an employee* of Burger King Company LLC or a participating BURGER KING® franchisee (Franchisees)
OR - Be a spouse (unless legally separated) or domestic partner** of an employee* of Burger King Company LLC or Franchisee (Designated Employer)
AND - Plan to enroll less than part-time or on an intermittent basis in GED, enrichment, certification or other course that enhances learning during the 2026-27 academic year (Note: Program or course must be taken at an accredited institution in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada.)
* Employees must be active on Designated Employer’s payroll for at least 3 months as of the application deadline date and employed at the time awards are first announced.
** Domestic partner is defined as (i) Employee’s sole Domestic Partner and intend to remain so indefinitely; (ii) Employee and Domestic Partner reside together in the same principal residence and intend to reside together indefinitely; (iii) Employee and Domestic Partner are both at least eighteen (18) years old and mentally competent to consent to a contract; (iv) Employee and Domestic Partner are not related by blood in a close enough manner that would bar marriage under applicable law in effect where they reside; and (v) Employee and Domestic Partner are not legally married to anyone else and are not involved in any other Domestic Partnership.
Applicable to all tracks:
Applicant submissions will be capped at 30,000. Access to the application will no longer be available once this number is reached.
Awards
The authorized distribution for new awards is determined annually based on the amount of funds raised by participating Franchisees.
All award checks will be issued in U.S. currency. Checks to recipients will be mailed in August to the student’s home address and made payable to the school for the student. Checks to recipients pursuing an enrichment program will be processed as requested by the student based on their enrollment.
Awards are not renewable and cannot be deferred; however, past recipients may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements and receive up to a maximum of four awards. All special-named award recipients may reapply and be considered for the $1,000 general awards.
The Employee-Based Track scholarships are for undergraduate study, graduate study and nontraditional courses at accredited institutions.
For the General Track, scholarships are for undergraduate study only. The General Track scholarships are for undergraduate study only at accredited institutions.
Applicants will be notified of their status in May 2026. Not all applicants will receive scholarships.
Selection of Recipients
All applicants will be required to complete the application in English, Spanish or French. Incomplete/non-submitted applications will not be processed.
Applicants will be separated into the following pools. Evaluation and selection of recipients for each pool of applicants is provided below.
- BURGER KING® General Track for high school seniors and past recipients: consideration will be given to each applicant’s academic record (33%), participation in school/community activities and work experience (33%) and financial need (33%)
- BURGER KING® Employee-Based Track for children of employees, spouse/domestic partner of employees, and employees pursuing a traditional postsecondary education: consideration will be given to each applicant’s academic record (33%), participation in school/community activities and work experience (33%) and financial need (33%)
- BURGER KING® Employee-Based Track for employees or spouse/domestic partner of employees pursuing an enrichment program: consideration will be given to each applicant’s participation in school and community activities (33%), and the employee’s length of service with Designated Employer (33%) and financial need (33%)
Following the application submission deadline date, Scholarship America will review applications for eligibility. Scholarship America will make the following award selections:
- Up to 3 James W. McLamore WHOPPER® scholarships of $60,000 granted to the most highly qualified students demonstrating leadership, substantial work experience and financial need
- One (1) Nancy McLamore Scholarship of $20,000
- Up to seven (7) King Awards at $15,000 granted to the most qualified employee in each region (1 award per region)
- Two (2) Hometown Scholarships of $10,000 granted to the most qualified employees
- Up to fifteen (15) regional awards of $5,000 granted to the most qualified employees in each of the six (6) regions (2 awards per region)
- There are a number of special-named awards for various franchisees which are determined annually based on funds raised
- There are several employee-based track awards from various franchisees which are determined annually based on funds raised.
- There are several general high school senior track awards from various franchisees which are determined annually based on funds raised.
James W. McLamore WHOPPER® Scholarship
Recipients will be chosen from the both BURGER KING® General Track and BURGER KING® Employee-Based Track applicants based upon the following criteria. Recipients must be:
- Citizens of the United States or Canada
- Students who who are seniors at a high school or home school in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada
- Students who are applying as a full time freshman to a four-year accredited, college or university that is located in the United States or Canada
- Students who have a cumulative unweighted grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale or the equivalent
- Students who demonstrate an active leadership role in community service, athletics, and/or similar co-curricular activity (such as student government, team sports, fraternal life, etc); and
- Students who demonstrate substantial work experience and financial need
Nancy McLamore Scholarship
Recipients will be chosen from the BURGER KING® Employee-Based Track applicants based upon the following criteria. Applicants must:
- Be a United States Citizen
- Be graduating high school seniors or have attained a GED, graduating from home school education, current college undergraduates, or graduate level students in the U.S., Puerto Rico or Guam
- Be an employee* of Burger King Company LLC or of a participating BURGER KING® franchisee
* Employees must be active on Designated Employer’s payroll for at least 1 year as of the application deadline date and employed at the time awards are verified. - Plan to be enrolled part-time or full-time for the 2026-2027 academic year at an accredited two- or four- year college, university, vocational-technical or trade school in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or Guam.
- Provide a letter of recommendation from a store manager or franchisee, when requested at a later date.
General Track – Awards of $1,000 will be designated to students by high school zip code, county and/or state (U.S., Puerto Rico and Guam) of city and/or province (Canada) of participating restaurant locations. The number of awards available to each Franchisee and Burger King Company LLC will be based on fundraising contributions as of the current calendar year
Employee-Based Track – Designation will be by Franchisee group. Awards of up to $1,000 each will be designated to employees who have aligned themselves to a participating Franchisee or Burger King Company LLC. (To the extent possible, the number of awards granted to each pool of applicants – children of employees, employees, employee’s spouse or domestic partner of the employee pursuing a traditional postsecondary education and employees, employee’s spouse or domestic partner of the employee pursuing an enrichment program – will be in proportion to the number of applicants received from each pool.) The award amount for part-time enrolled or enrichment program employees may not exceed the cost of the educational program. The number of awards available to each Franchisee and Burger King Company LLC will be based on fundraising contributions as of the current calendar year. The maximum percentage of awards that can be designated to the Employee-Based Track within each Franchise group is 75%
How To Apply
Start by clicking on the Create an Account link at the bottom of this page. You will need to create a username and password to register for a student account. You will be notified through an email validation process before an account is created for you. You must use a valid email address. The final step in creating your account is to complete the information requested in the student profile.
After your student account is created and you have provided profile information, you will have access to the application. During the application process, you will be able to leave the site by clicking on the Log Out or Save and Log Out links located on the site. In order to log in, you must enter your username and password as provided when registering for a student account.
You may wish to gather the following information that will be needed for the application process:
- A list of your work experiences and involvement in school and community activities
- A current (official or unofficial) transcript of grades
- BURGER KING® employee information if your application is to be affiliated with an employee
- Your family’s financial information. A copy of your parents’ most recent tax form filed with the IRS or Revenue Canada will be helpful to look at when filing out that section of the application.
Carefully review your application before submission. We recommend that you print a hard copy of your application to retain for your records. Printed copies of the online application should not be sent to Scholarship America or BURGER KING® Foundation.
All application pages with required fields must be completed in the format described in order to submit the application. Standard capitalization (Jill Smith, 101 Main Street, New York, NY) must be used when entering data. Once the application is submitted, no further revisions can be made.
Do I Need To Submit Any Documents?
Yes! A current, complete high school or college transcript of grades must be uploaded with your application. Grade reports are not accepted. Unofficial or online transcripts must display student name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course and term the course was taken.
Your application is not complete unless submitted electronically on or before December 15, 2025. If 30,000 applications are received prior to December 15, the application will no longer be available.
Applicants are solely responsible for gathering and submitting all information necessary to the application process. Scholarship America will email acknowledgment of receipt of all submitted applications. Applications found to be incomplete as of the application deadline or upon receipt of 30,000 submissions will not be processed. All information submitted is reviewed only by Scholarship America. Limited recipient information will be shared with representatives of Burger King Company LLC and/or BURGER KING® Foundation and respective donors/franchisees or other designees.
Notification
All applicants will be notified by email in May. If selected as a potential recipient you will be required to submit additional information to Scholarship America. Recipients failing to provide additional information will be ineligible.
Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients.
Award Payments
- Payment is made in one installment in August
- Checks are mailed from Scholarship America to each recipient’s home address
- Checks are made payable to the college for the student
- Scholarship America issues scholarship checks on behalf of BURGER KING® Foundation
Note: James W. McLamore WHOPPER® recipients and employee recipients taking enrichment courses may have different payment schedules.
Recipient Responsibilities
- Recipients must submit a completed Scholarship Acceptance Form to Scholarship America by the indicated deadline
- Recipients must notify their college or university about the award and deliver the scholarship check to the school in a timely manner
- Recipients must notify Scholarship America of any changes in address, school enrollment, or other relevant information
- Recipients will be asked to participate in surveys while they receive the awards and for up to two years beyond their enrollment. Recipients have no other obligation to BURGER KING® Foundation
Program Revisions
BURGER KING® Foundation reserves the right to review the conditions and procedures of this scholarship program and to make changes at any time, including termination of the program.
Frequently Asked Questions
All Company and participating Franchise restaurant, corporate and field employees, spouses or domestic partners of employees, and dependent children of employees are eligible. All high school seniors, regardless of whether or not they or their parent/guardian is employed at BURGER KING®, previous recipients of a BURGER KING scholarship are are also eligible to apply.
An email acknowledging receipt of the application is sent within 24 hours. The acknowledgment is sent to the email address provided when registering. If an acknowledgment is not received within 24 hours, please contact Scholarship America by email at burgerkingscholars@scholarshipamerica.org or call 507-931-8340.
- BURGER KING℠ Scholars awards are awarded each year.
- The number of awards will be determined by the funds available and the number of applicants.
- Most scholarships are non-renewable awards of up to $1,000. Awards cannot exceed educational costs.
- The scholarships can be applied towards any education-related expenses at accredited, two- or four-year colleges/universities, and vocational-technical schools in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam or Canada (Note: Employees and employees’ spouses or domestic partners may use awards to take enrichment courses at accredited institutions).
- A student may transfer from one institution to another within their award year and retain the award provided the institution and their enrollment fulfill eligibility criteria.
Past recipients, employees, spouse or domestic partner of employees, and dependent children of employees may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements and receive up to a maximum of four awards.
Yes, the application period is from October 15, 2025, through December 15, 2025. However, application submissions will be capped at 30,000. If the cap is reached prior to the deadline, the application will no longer be available. After submission and the deadline date, students will continue to have access to their portal to view their submission, receive status updates and update profile information, but no changes or additions can be made to the application.
Yes, provided the student meets the criteria of the program.
- Academic achievements
- Participation in school and community activities
- Work experience
- Financial information
- Length of employment (enrichment awards only)
Generally, the scholarship will not be taxable as long as it is used for qualifying expenses such as tuition, books and fees. However, a recipient should consult his/her tax adviser to determine whether or not it is taxable in his/her circumstances.
- Checks will be mailed to each recipient’s mailing address.
- Checks will be made payable to the institution only.
- Checks will be mailed in August to recipients.
- Employees and spouses/domestic partners of employees of the BURGER KING® system pursuing enrichment programs can request when they would like to receive their award check during the upcoming academic year.
- It is the recipient’s responsibility to notify Scholarship America should the check not arrive within 30 days of an issue date.
- All applicants will be notified via email in May 2026. Past experience indicates that emails are sometimes not received or successfully delivered. Be sure to keep your email address current in your student profile. Applicants are encouraged to contact Scholarship America at the phone number or email address below if a notification email is not received by June 2026.
- Recipients will also receive formal notification via post mail.
Transcripts must be uploaded with your application.
A current, complete high school or college transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Unofficial or online transcripts must display student name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course, and term the course was taken.
