Yes, it’s totally possible to achieve your dream of a CIA education! Along with grants and loans, our students receive scholarships from generous individual and corporate donors. That’s money that doesn’t have to be paid back! For those who think a CIA education is out of their reach…think again! These five students’ lives were changed because of the generosity of our donors and now they anticipate taking their CIA degrees and having great careers in the food world. Scholarships can help make dreams come true, so dream big!
Alessandra Sarria
Born in Nicaragua, Alessandra came to the U.S. with her single mother when she was 10. She always loved anything to do with food! When she looked up the name of the best culinary college in the U.S., she discovered CIA. And through the support of the scholarships she has received, Alessandra will be able to use her bachelor’s degree in hospitality management to pursue her dream job of bolstering the tourism industry in third-world countries.
Valeria Castro
After Hurricane Marie hit Puerto Rico, Valeria’s parents had no choice but to pool the family’s savings to survive. Valeria didn’t think she’d be able to attend her dream school. But the Food Dreams Scholarship made all the difference! The $20,000 award to an incoming associate degree student with financial need and a high school GPA of 3.0 fit Valeria to a tee. And, as part of the scholarship, Valeria will get to spend a post-graduate year apprenticing at one of the Jean-Georges Vongerichten properties with a mentor from Jean-Georges’ team—dream experience thanks to scholarships.
Carson Moreland
He comes from a family that’s in the restaurant business, so a culinary life is in his blood. But coming to CIA was something he was going to have to finance on his own. And since CIA was his dream school, he immediately started applying for scholarships—first in his local town, then his county, and his state. That got him through the doors of CIA but what has kept him here is his diligence in applying for the various scholarships available to enrolled CIA students. He’ll be graduating debt free, which will give him the freedom to try out a lot of career options!
Jasmiune Matthews
She lives with her single mom in Texas. Her mother was footing the bill for school but got sick during Jasmiune’s first semester. She headed back home to care for her mom. But Jasmiune was determined to return to CIA. She worked two jobs, saved her money, and happily, received scholarship dollars that made all the difference. She is graduating this month with her bachelor’s degree and looks forward to a career doing something she loves!
Emily White
Emily is a mother of three adorable little boys. After serving in the Navy on a destroyer out of Washington State, Emily returned to civilian life to become a 911 dispatcher. But the stress she experienced in that job started to take its toll on her family. It was then that Emily decided to take the risk of leaving her job to pursue her passion for baking and pastry. Her time in the associate degree program at CIA has been filled with opportunities to learn. Emily has also been a resident assistant; layout editor of the school newspaper, La Papillote; and a tutor. Through the generosity of her family, who has been taking care of her boys, and a number of generous scholarship donors, Emily will be graduating from CIA with a job offer in hand.