Schools Offering Pastry Culinary Arts Programs

If you plan to pursue a career in Culinary Arts as a Pastry Chef, there are many levels of education open to you. To become a pastry chef, a certificate or degree is not always required. However, as with any other career, the better your education, the better your employment prospects will be in the culinary world and the more likely you are to be hired for the job you really want. One factor that will determine how much education you need is how specialized you intend to become within the Pastry Chef field. If you want to be a general pastry chef only, for example, you are not likely to need the same degree of education as someone who wants to specialize in sugar work or become a chocolatier. A certificate and hands on experience will probably take as far as you want to go as a general pastry chef, while a master chocolatier will need specialized skills for which a technical school is unlikely to be able to provide training. If you intend to open your own bakery or restaurant someday, additional education with a secondary emphasis on business will certainly benefit you greatly in the long run.

There are many colleges which specialize in pastry arts and still many others which offer pastry courses as part of their full curriculum. Some only offer one type of certification, while others offer you your choice of degree programs. The most important thing is to decide where you ultimately want to work and what your long term career goals are. From there it will be much easier to tailor your culinary arts education so that it will help you reach your ideal job, be it as an executive pastry chef in a 5 star restaurant or as a pastry instructor in a local college. Once you have narrowed down your goals, it should be easy to choose the educational path that is best for your needs.

No matter which level of education you are seeking, but depending on where you wish to work, the school you attend may make as much difference as the level of education you receive. Studying abroad may provide better opportunities not only for education in the pastry field, but also be more beneficial to a chef’s career track. If you intend to focus on the pastry and baking of a particular culture, such as Greek or French for example, this is particularly true. However, you may find when applying for certain positions that even a simple French Pastry Arts certificate from a reknowned institution opens more doors than an American Associate’s Degree in Pastry Arts from an unknown school.

Certificate

Pastry Arts Certificates are generally offered from a private or technical school. These are usually given after one or more comprehensive courses that cover the basics of pastry techniques and on average take no more than 2 semesters to complete. This is the most common type of pastry arts training. These courses often contain some business education along with technical skills training. This is a good choice for a student who is anxious to get into the workforce and gain hands on experience, as well as anyone who does not wish to specialize in the near future, and anyone who is only studying pastry arts as a hobby, rather than for professional reasons. It is also the perfect solution for someone who simply cannot afford higher education at present or for older students who are turning to the Pastry Arts later in life. The Culinary Academy of Austin has a 6 month and a 15 month course to receive a certificate in Pastry and Culinary Arts. Another option is Le Cordon Bleu which has locations all over the United States and internationally. They offer both certificate and Associate’s Degree programs. If a student is interested primarily in French pastry, the French Pastry School in Chicago, Illinois may be a good choice.

Associate’s Degree

An Associate’s Degree is usually offered in Culinary or Pastry Arts by community and junior colleges upon course completion. It will carry more weight than a mere certificate, while still being a more affordable and more immediate option than a 4 year degree. Having a degree will increase the chance of acquiring a job above the assistant pastry chef level. There are even some 4 year schools which also offer the Associate’s Degree, such as Kendall College which offers both an Associate’s program and a Bachelor’s program in Baking and Pastry and Culinary Arts.

Bachelor’s Degrees

Bachelor’s Degrees are what most people mean when they refer to a “college degree”. Unless a student is keenly interested in specializing in a specific field of pastry, no additional education need be obtained beyond the Bachelor’s in Baking and Pastry Arts for better career opportunities. This is also the best choice for a student planning to go into business for themselves after college. The Culinary Institute of America has a Bachelor of Professional Studies Degree program in Baking & Pastry Arts Management which can be completed in just over 3 years. The French Culinary Institute at the International Culinary Center offers a fast-paced program to jump start a student’s pastry chef career. The FCI has courses of study designed for the amateur as well as the professional.

Master’s Degree

There are very few institutions in the continental United States which even offer a Master’s Degree program for Pastry or Culinary Arts. As previously stated, the Master’s Degree path should mainly be considered by those individuals who are serious about specializing in a particular area of the field of baking and pastry and wish to work only in the best and most exclusive restaurants, or for those who plan to open their own niche restaurant focusing on particular types of food (such as vegan, organic, gluten-free, etc). A Master's Degree is not a certification that is necessary in order to advance in the catering field, and is likely to be a requirement at only the most prestigious of restaurants. There is certainly nothing wrong with additional education, however, and the Masters program is an excellent opportunity to learn the most complex techniques, to study nutrition in more depth, and to learn about specific dietary needs and disorders and how they relate to the food being prepared.

Since courses and requirements change from year to year, if you are planning to continue your education as far as the Master level, it is better to choose and enroll in a school for your Bachelor’s Program first and research Masters programs from within the school system, when you will have the aid of more experienced chefs, guidance counselors and cooking instructors who can help set you on the best path for career advancement. If you have not previously studied abroad, during your Master studies might be the best time to pursue foreign coursework.