There is the possibility of using grants or scholarships or work study programs. Also, if possible a culinary student can look for a school that is in close proximity to their parent’s home and ask about living with them for a year or so. This may not be the most desirable for the student or the parents, but avoiding living costs can cut the price of culinary school by a large amount.

As for grants, scholarships and work study programs, the best place to start is the financial aid office of the culinary school you wish to attend. They should be aware of most of the options and can offer guidance. To get free information about the top culinary schools in the U.S., just click here: Free Information About Top Culinary Schools. Applying for and winning scholarships might seem a bit frightening, but if you are resourceful and follow some guidelines, you too can learn the ropes about winning scholarship money. The best advice is to read the book by Ben Kaplan entitled: How To Go To College Almost For Free”. Although this book does not address culinary scholarships specifically, it has tons of good information about winning scholarships in general. If you can understand the likely motivations of scholarship judges and can learn how to make your application stand out from the crowd of others who are applying, you will have a good chance to win some significant money and keep the amount of money borrowed through student loans down to a minimum or even down to the ideal figure: zero.

And don't forget the option of online culinary school. You can get great training for almost nothing. In fact the industry leader, Rouxbe Online Cooking Schools, has a 15 FREE initial membership plan.