JWU

ProStart Partnership

Have you taken part in ProStart programs at your high school? If so, you may be able to get up to a full semester of JWU credit for most culinary and hospitality majors.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Nov. 12, 2025 — Emily Robinson, a culinary nutrition major and member of the Class of 2026, is photographed inside the Cuisinart Center for Culinary Excellence at Johnson

Kickstart Your Degree

JWU and ProStart have recently established a pathway that allows incoming students who have earned the ProStart Culinary Arts & Restaurant Management program’s Certificate of Achievement (CoA) to earn up to a full semester of credits at JWU.

Your participation in ProStart may also qualify you for a $2,000 ProStart Scholarship (renewable for up to four years).

To earn these credits, you must complete the processes outlined below before July 15, 2027. We will then notify you via email if your ProStart experiences qualify for this program.

Eligible JWU Majors

College of Food Innovation & Technology

College of Hospitality & Business

How to Apply

  1. Start your free admissions application to JWU.
  2. Set up your admissions portal login. If you have chosen an eligible JWU major and noted your ProStart involvement on your application, a link to the JWU Portfolio will appear in your portal.
  3. Complete the JWU Portfolio, which includes:

    Required Items
    – Your ProStart Certificate of Achievement
    – Work experience reflection (review questions below)
    – ProStart Student Work Experience Checklist completed by your worksite/manager

    Optional Items
    – Indication of your interest to sit for the Challenge Exam at no cost
    – Submission of ServSafe Food Protection Manager certificate OR the National Registry for Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP) Food Safety Manager certification

For review purposes, here are the work experience reflection questions you will be asked to complete as part of your portfolio:

  1. For each of your worksites, describe the workplace culture, environment or atmosphere in your own words, using examples of actual occurrences or interactions to illustrate your description. Did your observations of workplace culture influence your thoughts about the type of environment you would like to work in during your career? If so, how?
  2. For each of your worksites, describe at least three of the core tasks/responsibilities you were assigned. In your opinion, did your performance of those tasks improve over time? Why or why not?
  3. What courses or concepts from your high school curriculum proved most valuable/helpful to you during your work experiences?
  4. Identify at least three knowledge or skill gaps that made you feel underprepared for tasks/responsibilities at your worksites. (In other words, what did you not know at the beginning of your work experience that made you feel behind or underprepared?) How did you compensate for and overcome these gaps? Provide actual examples where possible.
  5. For each of your worksites, describe your greatest successes or the moments that made you most proud.
  6. What are three most important lessons or skills you learned during your work experience(s)? How will these impact you in the long run?
  7. What are your future career/professional goals? What soft (professional) or technical skills would you most like to improve upon to successfully achieve these goals?

How the Credit is Applied

Students may receive up to one full semester of credit (13 credits).

This could include:

  • Intermediate Internship or free electives (9 semester credits): This “prior learning” credit may be granted upon review of submitted CoA, work experience reflection and work experience checklist for the required 400 work hours done as part of the CoA.
  • FSM1165 The Food Safety Manager (one semester credit): This credit may be granted for successful completion of ServSafe Food Protection Manager certification OR the National Registry for Food Safety Professionals (NRFSP) Food Safety Manager certification.
  • CUL1210 Breakfast & Lunch Café (3 semester credits): If you have successfully completed the ProStart CoA, you are also eligible to request — at no charge — the written and practical challenge exam for the culinary foundation class, Breakfast & Lunch Café (CUL1210). Those who successfully pass the exam at 70% or better will be granted 3 credits for the class, which will count directly toward degree requirements or will be substituted for other relevant degree requirements.

Contact Us

If you have questions about the ProStart partnership, contact College of Food Innovation & Technology Dean Jason Evans.