Culinary Arts

 

Types of Degrees Culinary Arts Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many culinary arts graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	8,074
Associate Degree	7,239
Basic Certificate	6,246
Bachelor’s Degree	498

What Culinary Arts Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to culinary arts 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 Culinary Arts Majors

Culinary Arts majors often go into careers in which the following 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.
• Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• 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.

Skills for Culinary Arts Majors

culinary arts majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.

Abilities for Culinary Arts Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a culinary arts 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.
• 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.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Culinary Arts Major?

People with a culinary arts degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Bakers	7.6%	$26,520
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
Food Service Managers	9.0%	$54,240
Slaughterers and Meat Packers	0.6%	$28,260

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts?

This is one of the most frequently chosen trade school majors. It is the 7th most popular in the country with 6,796 students graduating with an associate’s in culinary arts in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 61% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	364
Black or African American	1,427
Hispanic or Latino	1,403
White	3,097
International Students	189
Other Races/Ethnicities	759

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Culinary Arts. About 2.6% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• South Korea
• China
• India
• Mexico
• Canada

How Much Do Culinary Arts Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $28,450 to $52,160 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to culinary arts. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

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 Culinary Arts

Some degrees associated with culinary arts may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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 culinary arts have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	16.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	43.9%
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)	11.4%
Some College Courses	9.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	10.8%
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.	0.6%
Master’s Degree	1.5%
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.	0.3%
Doctoral Degree	0.6%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.3%

Online Culinary Arts Programs

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)	582	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	35	1
Associate’s Degree	613	10
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	6	1
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Culinary Arts Worth It?

The median salary for a culinary arts grad is $33,210 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Culinary Arts

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to culinary arts.

Major	Number of Grads
Cosmetology	124,611
Funeral & Mortuary Science	2,186
Casino Operations and Services	385
Other Personal & Culinary Services	95

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.