Taco Bell is giving away $13 million in scholarships — no GPA required

You will, however, have to be able to convincingly argue your case.

The 12th annual Live Más Scholarship is being made available to anyone between the ages of 16 and 26. Applications are now open and the grants will be given in increments of $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. Applicants have until Jan. 5, 2027 to apply for the money.

To do that, they’ll have to put together either a video of up to two-minutes explaining why they deserve the scholarship, or write an essay spanning 250-500 words.

The first recipient

While the majority of the scholarships won’t be handed out until next year, Taco Bell has already given a scholarship to one of its team members.

Jose Q., who works at a Taco Bell location in Los Angeles, was pursuing a degree in computer engineering and business. He shared this goal with CEO Sean Tresvant, who worked at the store in 2024 for a restaurant training shift. This summer, Tresvant returned to the store and was surprised to see Jose still working there.

Tuition costs, he learned, had forced Jose to put his plans on hold, so a few months later at a company event, Jose was surprised with a $25,000 scholarship.

“When I turned and saw the big check, I started crying, because I didn’t think that would actually happen,” Jose said in a statement. “For those people that are applying for a Live Más Scholarship, advice I can give you would be: never give up. Always trust yourself. Don’t let someone — or your own mind — let you down.”

A growing total

Taco Bell launched its scholarship program in 2015. Since then, it has given out more than $78 million to students, who have gone on to study everything from fashion and design to medical advances and food innovation.

Students have the opportunity to renew the scholarship up to three times — and last year, more than 95% of the people who applied for renewal received continued financial support, the company says.

The best way to receive one of the scholarships, the foundation writes, is to explain what you are passionate about and the impact you believe you can make, as well as describing how your community has helped shape you and influenced you to pursue this passion.

The next round of scholarships will be awarded to students on track for a high school diploma (or GED) or those enrolled in a post-secondary program next spring.