Find Trade Colleges
Culinary Science
Types of Degrees Culinary Science Majors Are Getting
The following table lists how many culinary science/culinology graduations there were in 2021-2022 for each degree level.
Education Level | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Basic Certificate | 115 |
Bachelor’s Degree | 88 |
What Culinary Science Majors Need to Know
O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to culinary science 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 Science Majors
According to O*NET survey takers, a major in culinary science should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:
- 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.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- 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.
- 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 Science Majors
The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to culinary science:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Science Majors
As a culinary science major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:
- 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.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
What Can You Do With a Culinary Science Major?
People with a culinary science degree often go into the following careers:
Job Title | Job Growth Rate | Median Salary |
---|---|---|
Chefs and Head Cooks | 9.6% | $48,460 |
Cooks | 9.0% | $28,650 |
Food Service Managers | 9.0% | $54,240 |
How Much Do Culinary Science Majors Make?
Salaries According to BLS
Average salaries range from $52,160 to $72,570 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to culinary science. 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 Science
Some careers associated with culinary science 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.
How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to culinary science have obtained the following education levels.
Education Level | Percentage of Workers |
---|---|
Less than a High School Diploma | 5.5% |
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) | 23.5% |
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) | 9.2% |
Some College Courses | 9.1% |
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 15.1% |
Bachelor’s Degree | 26.7% |
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. | 2.5% |
Master’s Degree | 6.2% |
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. | 1.2% |
Doctoral Degree | 2.5% |
Online Culinary Science 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) | 1 | 0 |
Certificate (2-4 Years) | 0 | 0 |
Associate’s Degree | 1 | 0 |
Bachelor’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
Post-Baccalaureate | 0 | 0 |
Master’s Degree | 2 | 0 |
Post-Master’s | 0 | 0 |
Doctor’s Degree (Research) | 1 | 0 |
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) | 0 | 0 |
Doctor’s Degree (Other) | 0 | 0 |
Is a Degree in Culinary Science Worth It?
The median salary for a culinary science grad is $58,960 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.
This is 48% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $381,200 after 20 years!
Explore Major by State
Alabama
California
District of Columbia
Idaho
Kansas
Maryland
Mississippi
Nevada
New York
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Utah
West Virginia
Alaska
Colorado
Florida
Illinois
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Missouri
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Oregon
South Dakota
Vermont
Wisconsin
Trades Related to Culinary Science
You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to culinary science.
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.