History
The Washington State University Creamery and Food Science Scholarship was established in 2008 by setting aside a portion of all cheese and ice cream sales from the WSU Creamery to support undergraduate students majoring in food science at WSU. Scholarship awards will be determined with the interest rate paid on the endowment.
Dairy manufacturing began at Washington State College around the turn of the twentieth century, but it was not until the 1930s that WSC researchers and the American Can Company became interested in different ways to store cheese and the “tin” was developed. In the ’40s, WSC stopped working with outside contractors to produce cheese and started its own operation on the WSC campus. Ferdinand’s was born!
The WSU Creamery continues today as a research and teaching facility where WSU-produced milk is turned into cheese and ice cream. As sales went up, a Direct Marketing and storage facility was added and production steadily increased. Each year, up to 70 student employees work part-time at the WSU Creamery, which is one of the largest university-owned and operated creameries in the U.S. The experience and skills students learn at the WSU Creamery prepare them for employment opportunities after graduation. Hundreds of students have earned their way through college by working at the WSU Creamery, and many of them now work in the dairy industry around the United States.
Eligibility
- To be eligible for the scholarship, students must:
- be a full-time high school student or new undergraduate transfer student
- be focusing on an academic discipline and career plan that supports the food science/dairy industry
- have an academic advisor in the School of Food Science, or indicate intended food science major at WSU
- be a U.S. citizen
- Applications will be solicited in the spring semester each year. To be considered, students must complete the scholarship application in full (form is below).
- Qualified students will be selected from applications received by the May 1 deadline.
- To receive the scholarship, students must be enrolled in 12-18 credits at WSU each semester. If a student drops below 12 credits, they will lose the scholarship.
- Students who are awarded the scholarship can renew it up to three times (for a total of four years) with the maintenance of a 3.0 GPA or higher, continued full-time enrollment in a food science major, and an advisor in the food science discipline.
Award
The scholarship will be awarded for both the fall and spring semesters only. Student recipients will receive their scholarship through WSU Scholarship Services to be applied to their tuition and living expenses.