Do you want to earn a culinary degree, but attending daily classes just doesn’t fit into your schedule or lifestyle? Or perhaps you live in a remote area where you don’t have access to a culinary school. No matter what your reason is for attending an online culinary school, we can help you find the school that’s right for you. There are many benefits to attending an online culinary school—read on to learn more.
Greater Selection of Schools
Some areas have a great selection of culinary schools, giving you several choices of which school to attend. However, other areas only have one or two culinary schools. If you live in a very remote or rural area, you may not be in driving distance of any schools!
That’s not a problem with online schools. No matter where you live, you can select from a variety of schools located throughout the country. Since your work is done online, it doesn’t matter how far you are from the nearest brick-and-mortar school.
More Flexible Scheduling
Online Culinary school can have fairly rigid scheduling since you have to complete your degree in one or two years. This can be difficult for many students, particularly those that are already working full- or part-time.
When you attend school online, it doesn’t matter if, when, or how much you work. You can do your coursework when your schedule allows as long as you meet all of your deadlines. If you have a long week of work, you can dedicate your weekend to schoolwork and get it all done.
Internship Opportunities
Since online schools lack the face-to-face interaction of traditional brick-and-mortar schools, you need to get your experience in another way. Many online culinary schools encourage or require their students to complete internships. An internship can be one of the best things you can do for your culinary career since it helps you start networking in the industry before you graduate.
What do you do with a culinary degree?
A culinary degree opens one or more career options for you. Other than being a popular chef, people with this degree can be restaurant managers, food and beverage specialists or food stylists for magazines etc. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that jobs for head cooks and chefs will grow 9% between the year 2014 and 2024.
Some other culinary related career includes:
- Caterer
- Food scientist
- Food taster
- Cooking instructor
- Nutritionist
Let’s find out the top online culinary programs in the US you can choose to enrol in.
Henry Ford College (MI)
Henry Ford College is the public community college located in Dearborn, Michigan. Started in 1938, it has its roots as trade school which originally started to serve the underprivileged men. The college has expanded over the years to provide higher education to men and women in on-campus as well as online programs and degrees. The college is focused on offering programs that prepare students for the fast-changing workforce and giving students affordable scholarship opportunities and other facilities.
Henry Ford College’s BS in Culinary Arts prepares students for the tourism and hospitality industry.
- Training from American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institution
- Certification from the American Culinary Federation and National Restaurant Association
- Courses: Hospitality Supervision and Leadership, International Cooking, Fundamentals of Baking
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh
This Pennsylvania based online culinary school provides students certificate degree and bachelors programs. In one of the diverse online academic experiences, the students can take management, law, business, accounting programs and in another they can study safety and sanitation, hospitality information system and event planning. These courses form rewarding yet challenging online programs for students.
Tuition and Fees:
- $470 per credit hour—tuition fee
- $100 per course—technology fee
- $50/$75 per course (depending)—digital resource fee
Students who pass from The Arts Institute of Pittsburgh programs are prepared to manage fast-paced and complex culinary environments that need a surfeit of responsibilities and skills. Career options for graduates include food and beverage manager, food service director, banquet manager, executive chef and more.
Keiser University Center for Culinary Arts – Associate of Science, Florida
Keiser University has a physical campus as well as online programs. It has the Associate of Science degree in Keiser University Center for Culinary Arts and is accredited by the American Culinary Federation. The program has academic preparations, lab sessions and hands-on experience. The curriculum includes an internship to prepare the students for the real world. There are no prerequisites to take the major courses, but you need to take 84 credit hours to graduate with 60 of the major courses. A lot of these courses are available online. Some of them are:
- Principles of Food
- Nutrition and Sensory Evaluation
- Food Service Sanitation
- Storeroom Operations
The university provides you experience, knowledge and a trusted name to offer you the career of your choice.
Escoffier Online International Culinary Academy, Chicago
This international academy offers two first-class certificate programs in culinary discipline- the first is the online Pastry Certificate, and the other is the online Culinary Arts Certificate. More focused on cooking, the Pastry program offers students various hands-on projects with the main emphasis on diets like vegan baking and gluten-free baking.
Tuition and Fees:
- $11,900 full program—tuition fee
- $45 one time—registration fee
Depending on the area of the field students enter into, the online school provides students with a lot of resources. The Culinary Arts program has real-world industry externship establishing new connections. The Pastry program includes opportunities to network within the culinary community of the master chefs.
New England Culinary Institute, Vermont
NECI provides three amazing Bachelor of Arts degree programs which are taught by dedicated professors who are available to students online. Coursework at the institute has been designed in a way that it adapts to the online format, providing distance education students same instructions and quality education as the on-campus students.
Tuition and Fees:
- $12,000 per academic year—tuition fee
- $600 per academic year—technology fee
- $150 one time—program deposit
- $50 one time—application fee
Program Options:
- BA in Culinary Arts
- BA in Baking and Pastry Arts
- BA in Food and Beverage Business Management
These amazing degree programs provide life-changing opportunities in culinary arts. According to what an individual chooses, students graduate with sharpened skills in leadership and management, baking arts, culinary arts etc.
So, these are a few top online culinary programs that you must take into consideration while choosing an online culinary school. The most important thing to remember is to get a degree with value, and the school should be accredited. Holding a culinary degree is truly an honor that opens up opportunities for you and choosing an online school is not a decision that can be taken lightly.
Take your time and research well to find the best culinary school. Contact a school you are interested in and get started on the road to your culinary success.