Earn Your Degree in Culinary Arts
Bachelors Degree in Culinary Arts
A Bachelor Degree in Culinary Arts is your passport into a management career in the hospitality industry. People generally take two paths to completion of the higher education program. Some students enter the higher education facility without any previous culinary arts training. The second type of student has a culinary arts certificate or Associate’s Degree and has decided to expand career opportunities by completing a 4-year program.
The 4-year culinary arts programs include much more than culinary arts cooking classes. You will take classes in finance, management and budgeting. This degree will prepare you for management positions working for a business or for self-employment as an entrepreneur. Many popular restaurants, bakeries, cafés and catering businesses have been started by people who earned their Bachelor in Culinary Arts.
Types of Classes
Chefs and food service managers oversea the preparation of food in restaurants, hotels, cruise lines and convention centers. They work in small and large establishments and may supervise various kitchen and hospitality staff including food preparers, cooks and even servers in fine dining restaurants or large events where food presentation is important. They also deal with budgets, food purchases, menu preparation, health and sanitation standards and much more.
The standard degree name is Bachelors Degree in Culinary Arts, but some schools use other names for programs that will have a culinary arts core group of classes in addition to management classes. For example, you might earn a Bachelors Degree in Culinary Management, a Bachelors Degree in Restaurant Management, Bachelor of Arts in Culinary Arts, Bachelors Degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, or a Bachelor Degree in Hospitality Management.
Classes will cover a range of topics including accounting and budgeting, pastry, wine studies, baking, business planning, marketing, inventory control, budgeting, international cuisine, beverage management, food safety, management, nutrition, pastry techniques, restaurant and health laws, menu planning, customer service, hospitality and service management, and the principles of designs.
To find schools offering a Bachelor Degree Culinary program, you can consider culinary institutes, universities and colleges.
Work Your Way to Higher Salaries
As you would expect, there is a wide range of salaries based on the type of job you hold and your experience. You must work your way up because the only real way to become a successful chef is through practice.
Earnings will be highest in the finer hotels and restaurants. Chefs are also paid more in large metropolitan areas and resort areas according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Developing a successful career after earning your Bachelors Degree Culinary Arts requires that you be:
- Willing to work your way up through increasingly responsible positions
- Willing to work with other people in a professional manner
- Willing to work weekends, evenings and sometimes long hours
- Willing to learn new techniques, skills and strategies
- A Culinary Arts Bachelor Degree can give you an edge over those earning culinary arts vocational certificates or an Associate’s Degree.
Why Earn a Masters of Culinary Arts?
Why should you earn a Masters of Culinary Arts? After all, your Bachelors Degree in Culinary Arts gave you the educational background you need to succeed because it included both cooking skills and business skills classes. Right?
Like any career, the more education you have the more attractive you will be to employers. A graduate degree takes your education to the next level and expands your knowledge base. Here are a few of the advantages a Masters Degree offers anyone working on their career in the culinary arts and hospitality industries:
- Sets you apart from the others who did not pursue graduate education as higher level jobs come open
- Includes more general management classes designed to prepare you for running a successful business whether for an employer or yourself
- Gives you an edge when it’s time for a promotion or a pay raise
- Enables you to be more competitive in what is often a global employment market in the hospitality industries
Learning New Management Skills
A Masters Degree in Culinary Arts focuses less on learning specific cooking and presentational skills and more on learning business based management principles and theories. You will have learned specific culinary skills in your undergraduate program, and the graduate program instead expands on management and business related topics. The following are some of the types of advanced topics that are included in graduate programs”
- Budgeting and controlling costs for large events
- Managing a diverse staff of hospitality workers
- Food science and studies
- Nutrition management in an institutional setting
- International hospitality
- Marketing
- Business planning
A Culinary Arts Masters Degree can make you eligible for a higher culinary arts salary in both the private and government sectors. The recreation industries include the higher paying jobs like banquet and event managers for convention centers and food planners for cruise lines.
Prove You Are Serious About Your Career!
A Masters Degree shows you are willing to put in the time and effort it takes to excel in your career. It can help you develop the expertise needed to move into the better paying jobs. A Masters Degree can also give you entry into the culinary arts educational field if you want to teach.
You can even combine your Masters Degree with additional certifications such as Certified Sous Chef or Certified Pastry Chef. The American Culinary Federation offers certification programs and accredits culinary arts programs.
A Masters Degree in the field of culinary arts is a fairly new creation. In the past the primary degrees offered were Associate and Bachelor’s Degrees so the addition of the Masters Degree is in recognition of the increasing need for business trained leaders in the industry.
