Personal & Culinary Services

Types of Degrees Personal & Culinary Services Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many personal and culinary services graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	65,495
Basic Certificate	54,652
Associate Degree	9,515
Bachelor’s Degree	644

What Personal & Culinary Services Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to personal and culinary services and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Personal & Culinary Services Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Personal & Culinary Services Majors

A major in personal and culinary services prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Personal & Culinary Services Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a personal and culinary services student include the following:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Can You Do With a Personal & Culinary Services Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with personal and culinary services:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Bakers	7.6%	$26,520
Barbers	13.5%	$27,960
Bartenders	2.5%	$22,550
Butchers and Meat Cutters	5.7%	$31,580
Chefs and Head Cooks	9.6%	$48,460
Cooks	9.0%	$28,650
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria	7.7%	$26,860
Cooks, Private Household	5.2%	$37,590
Cooks, Restaurant	11.8%	$26,530
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers	9.3%	$32,450
First-Line Supervisors of Personal Service Workers	14.6%	$38,400
Food Service Managers	9.0%	$54,240
Funeral Service Managers	7.0%	$79,180
Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists	13.0%	$24,730
Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance	12.5%	$64,250
Manicurists and Pedicurists	13.2%	$24,330
Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Directors	3.8%	$52,650
Skincare Specialists	13.7%	$31,290
Slaughterers and Meat Packers	0.6%	$28,260
Spa Managers	14.6%	$38,400

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Personal & Culinary Services?

This major is dominated by women with about 66% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of personal and culinary services majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	414
Black or African American	1,642
Hispanic or Latino	1,803
White	4,567
International Students	291
Other Races/Ethnicities	798

Geographic Diversity

Personal & Culinary Services appeals to people across the globe. About 3.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Personal & Culinary Services Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $28,660 to $57,620 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to personal and culinary services. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Personal & Culinary Services

Some careers associated with personal and culinary services require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to personal and culinary services have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	13.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	30.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	21.2%
Some College Courses	7.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	14.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	11.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.8%
Master’s Degree	1.0%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.7%
Doctoral Degree	0.4%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.2%

Online Personal & Culinary Services Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 2,115 schools offered some type of personal and culinary services program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	2,932	12
Certificate (2-4 Years)	186	0
Associate’s Degree	857	17
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	6	1
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Personal & Culinary Services Worth It?

The median salary for a personal and culinary services grad is $36,190 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Personal & Culinary Services

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to personal and culinary services.

Major	Number of Grads
Mechanic & Repair Technologies	96,307
Precision Production	52,905
Construction Trades	35,794
Transportation & Materials Moving	28,383

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By U.S. Army Europe Images under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.