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Baking & Pastry Arts Major

Baking & Pastry Arts

1,253 Associates's Degrees Annually
42 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
#35 in Popularity (Associate's)
$28,660 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Baking & Pastry Arts Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many baking & pastry arts/baker/pastry chef graduations there were in 2021-2022 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate 2,195
Associate Degree 1,497
Basic Certificate 1,243
Bachelor’s Degree 94

What Baking & Pastry Arts Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, baking & pastry arts majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Baking & Pastry Arts Majors

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

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  • Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
  • Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
  • 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.
  • Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills for Baking & Pastry Arts Majors

A major in baking & pastry arts prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

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  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Time Management - Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Baking & Pastry Arts Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a baking & pastry arts student include the following:

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  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Baking & Pastry Arts Major?

People with a baking & pastry arts degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Bakers 7.6% $26,520
Chefs and Head Cooks 9.6% $48,460

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Baking & Pastry Arts?

1,497 Associate's Degrees Annually
84% Percent Women
43% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This major is dominated by women with about 84% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 66
Black or African American 220
Hispanic or Latino 292
White 728
International Students 37
Other Races/Ethnicities 154

Geographic Diversity

Baking & Pastry Arts appeals to people across the globe. About 2.5% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Baking & Pastry Arts Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Baking & Pastry Arts majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $28,660 to $52,160 (25th to 75th percentile). 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.

Median Salary for a Baking & Pastry Arts Major  ( 28660 to 52160 )
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Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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Some careers associated with baking & pastry arts require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for baking & pastry arts careers below.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 12.0%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 33.7%
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) 15.9%
Some College Courses 8.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 24.1%
Bachelor’s Degree 6.0%
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. 2.0%

Online Baking & Pastry 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) 115 1
Certificate (2-4 Years) 4 0
Associate’s Degree 98 0
Bachelor’s Degree 0 0
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 0 0
Post-Master’s 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Baking & Pastry Arts Worth It?

The median salary for a baking & pastry arts grad is $28,660 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

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You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to baking & pastry arts.

Major Number of Grads
Culinary Arts/Chef Training 10,546
General Cooking & Related Culinary Arts 3,303
Restaurant, Culinary, & Catering Management/Manager 1,394
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant 786
Other Culinary Arts & Related Services 335
Institutional Food Workers 204
Culinary Science/Culinology 203
Bartending/Bartender 157
Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, & Dining Room Management/Manager 82
Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter 28
Wine Steward/Sommelier 8

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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