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The Ronald Croatti Scholarship Program
Deadline to apply: April 10, 2025 3:00 pm CT

UniFirst Corporation has established a scholarship program to assist employees who plan to continue their education in college or vocational school programs.

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.

Applicants to The Ronald Croatti Scholarship Program must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Be an employee* of UniFirst Corporation and its subsidiaries who have a minimum of one year of employment as of the application deadline.
  • Have received a high school diploma or GED.
  • Plan to enroll in full-time or part-time (minimum six credit hours) undergraduate or graduate study at an accredited two-year or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school for the entire upcoming academic year.
  • Plan to continue education in one of the following three areas of study:
    • Information Technology
    • Sales Leadership
    • Business Administration/Leadership

* Awards may be considered taxable income to the employee.

 

Awards

The authorized distribution for awards will be up to $42,500.

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive an award ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Awards will be granted as follows:

  • Up to five (5) awards of $1,000 each for study at a two-year community college or vocational-technical school.
  • Up to five (5) awards of $2,500 each for study at a four-year college or university.
  • Up to five (5) awards of $5,000 each for graduate study.

Awards are not renewable, but students may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements.

Awards are for undergraduate and graduate study only.

Notification

All applicants will be notified in June.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of UniFirst Corporation. Payment is made in August.

Employees must be actively employed on the date the checks are disbursed.

Selection of Recipients

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • academic record
  • demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • work experience
  • a statement of educational and career goals and objectives
  • any unusual personal or family circumstances
  • an online recommendation

Financial need is not considered.

Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of UniFirst Corporation play a part in the selection.

Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.


As part of your application, you must upload the following:

  • A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display:
    • Student name
    • School name
    • Grades
    • Credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.

     

    • Applicants who have completed less than one full term of postsecondary education must include a high school transcript of grades.
    • Applicants who have completed less than one full term of postsecondary education and who did not graduate from high school but have taken the General Educational Development (GED) test must provide a copy of their GED certificate and test.
    • Applicants currently or previously enrolled in college or vocational-technical school must include all college or vo-tech transcripts of grades from each school. Unofficial transcripts must display student name, school name, grade and credit hours earned for each course, and term in which each course was taken.

NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload a copy of your test score report(s) separately. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.

One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than April 15, 2025 3:00 pm Central Time.

Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.

UniFirst Corporation has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you to the Scholarship America Student Hub!

Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address provided below in the footer as safe senders in your email contact list.