How long does it usually take to earn a culinary arts degree?
I’m thinking about going to school part time to earn a culinary arts degree. Does it usually take a long time to earn? Anyone know if there are courses out there that only last a few weeks?
Thanks
First, it isn’t necessary to earn a degree to get your start in the culinary arts. If you do decide to go the degree route, it generally takes around 15 to 16 months to earn an AA (most hands-on programs designed to prepare you for a career path leading to becoming a Chef are Associate Degree programs).
However, you can find diploma programs that are much shorter. The difference? A degree program must include general ed courses. These gen ed courses may be valuable, but you should ask yourself, is a school dedicated to teaching the culinary arts, the best place to study English or History?
The program at my school lasts about 8 months, full time. We are accredited, our instructors are all certified by the American Culinary Federation, our graduates have achieved extraordinary success (ask us, it’s far too much to list here), and many chefs and other industry professionals consider ours to be among the best culinary programs in the country. www.sdculinary.com [end of plug]
The best program is the best program FOR YOU, that best meets your needs and resources. The CIA has a wonderful reputation (well-deserved), but it is expensive and not everyone can go to Hyde Park for a few years to learn their trade. Think carefully about your needs and wants. List them and find the school that best fits YOU.
Any good program should encourage you to:
- speak with Chefs working in the sorts of restaurants you would like to work in about the programs you are considering.
- speak with students currently attending the schools you are considering. A good school won’t be afraid to encourage you to speak with several students of your choosing. Unfortunately, many programs will steer you to speak only with select students of the admissions office’s choosing. Ask the students if their happy with their education. Do they feel they’re learning the things they hoped to learn? Do they like their instructors? Does the school attend to their needs?
- ask about the class size–not the student/teacher ratio. Many schools hire poorly qualified ‘assistant’ instructors to lower their ratio in classes of 40 or more students. The optimal size for a kitchen lab class is 10 to 15 students. More than 20 is really stretching it.
- ask about the instructors’ qualifications. A good Chef Instructor should have at least 10 or 15 years of culinary experience and many years of experience as a Chef. Preferably as an Executive Chef. Stay away from schools that hire their graduates as instructors. It’s like trying to read a 4th generation Xerox copy.
- ask to speak with the Instructors. You should feel comfortable with the people that will be teaching you your trade and they should welcome the interaction.
- sit in on a class for a while. A good culinary school can be expensive. You should get a chance to at least preview what you’re buying.
- ask about the school’s placement services. They’re generally required to provide you with certain information — at least the percentage of graduates they place, but you want to know WHERE their graduates go to work. In many states a school is required to show prospective students the details of where their graduates go to work. A school’s high placement rate doesn’t mean so much if their graduates are all going to work at Denny’s…
Schools that offer only degree programs will try to convince you that you need a degree. These programs can be very expensive and it isn’t true that you need a degree to succeed in the culinary world. At the end of the day, whether you earn a diploma or a degree, the value of that piece of paper is only as good as the education it represents.
Good luck! I hope this helps.
CSN Culinary Arts & Pastries
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