Earn Your Bachelors Degree in Culinary Arts and Be a Chef!
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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.
If you start your career as a kitchen chef, your beginning salary with less than 1 year of experience may range from $31,000 to $47,000 according to Payscale.com. A food service supervisor with one to five years of experience earns $24,000 to $41,000. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that the median wage for chefs and head cooks was $38,770 as of May 2008.
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. The top 5 highest paying metropolitan areas as of May 2008 included New York City; Naples-Marco Island, Florida; and Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas.
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.
