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Culinary Arts Institutes
How to Pick the Right One Near El Mirage Arizona

El Mirage Arizona culinary arts students in cooking classYou have made a great career choice to become a chef or cook by enrolling in a culinary school near El Mirage AZ. You will not only be taught how to cook incredible dishes or make fancy desserts, you'll also be able to earn a good living doing it. However, now that you've decided, just how do you go about picking a culinary arts school? What qualifications should you consider and compare among the contending culinary colleges before reaching your final selection? Remember that you must pick the right program and degree in order to be a success in the hospitality and restaurant industry. There are a wide range of options to select from, beginning with a diploma or certificate program and advancing to attaining an undergraduate as well as a graduate degree. You may enroll in a small baking school, an online training class, or enroll in a prestigious culinary institute that provides more advanced degrees. The type of credential and school you select will undoubtedly be dependent upon the amount of time and money you can afford to commit, together with your ultimate career goal. Once you have decided what your primary area of interest and budget are, you can start assessing the cooking schools that satisfy your preliminary requirements. Depending upon the certification and type of culinary school you decide on, you could be working as a professional chef or cook in just six months. So before we dig more into the method of choosing a school, let's talk a little bit more about the degree alternatives that are available.

It Takes Just a Few Minutes to Start Your Culinary Arts Career Below!

Culinary Institute Degree Options

El Mirage Arizona chef cooking in front of flaming pan

As with numerous other professions or trades in El Mirage AZ, there are multiple degree options that are available in the culinary arts. At the most elemental level, you can sign up for a local cooking course, which are more informal in nature and can run from just a few hours to a number of weeks. Typically a certificate or a diploma is awarded upon completion. They can be comprehensive in nature, for instance demonstrating how to cook Spanish meals, or they can be quite specific and focus on one dish, for instance Crepes Suzette. Of course if you are looking for a more conventional education geared towards a career in the restaurant profession, you will probably want to pursue a degree program. With a degree program, you will be obligated to invest significantly more time.

  • Associate's Degrees can require as long as six months to 2 years to complete.
  • Bachelor's Degrees generally involve as much as 4 years of education.
  • Masters Degrees can take an additional two years or even longer after obtaining a Bachelor's.

Additional advanced training alternatives may be available, such as specialized or Doctoral programs made available by culinary arts institutes. The most important point to remember when deciding on which degree to pursue is making sure that it provides the education and credential needed to advance your ultimate career objectives.

Online Culinary Arts Colleges

El Mirage Arizona female attending online culinary coursesMany potential students may find that there are no cooking institutes that are within commuting distance of their El Mirage AZ residence. One alternative is to enroll in online training within the comfort of one's home. The practicality and flexibility makes it the best solution for many students that continue working full time while going to school. Also there are more programs online than ever before that are accredited. Bear in mind that a substantial portion of the training will be provided through an externship. Externships are programs where students train under local chefs or other culinary arts practitioners so that they obtain hands-on training outside of the online classroom. Just make sure that the online school you decide on is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education recognized organization (more on this later). So if you are disciplined enough to be able to participate in classes and study in this more independent method, attaining a culinary degree online may be the best option for you.

Researching Cooking Colleges

At this point you should have decided on the type of degree that you wish to earn, and if you want to enroll in a public or private school. Since there a large number of cooking schools in the El Mirage area and within the USA, you need to create a checklist of important qualifications so that you can start narrowing down your choices. Certain obvious qualifications, such as cost and location are an excellent place to start. But picking a school because it is the nearest or the cheapest is not the optimal way to make a decision regarding your education. There are other factors, including reputation and accreditation that you need to review also. So following are some key areas that you need to investigate for every school as you compare and contrast them and make your ultimate selection.

Accreditation.  It's very important that the cooking school you pick has some type of accreditation from either a regional or a national organization. As aforementioned, the accrediting organization should be a U.S. Department of Education certified authority, for instance the American Culinary Federation (ACF). ACF accredited schools have successfully completed a comprehensive review relating to their curriculum, teachers and facilities. Therefore not only does accreditation help confirm that you will receive excellent training, but it can also help in obtaining a student loan or financial aid which are frequently not accessible for non-accredited schools.

Age.  Newer schools frequently have the benefit of having modern equipment and facilities. However, they may not have been operating long enough to acquire an accreditation or to cultivate a reputation. On the other hand, older schools may still be using their original, dated equipment, but have established a lengthy track record of excellence and acquired one or more accreditations. Also, the longer a school has been in business, the more graduates the school can solicit for its job assistance program. Obviously there is some give and take dependent on the age of the culinary schools. And older, more renowned schools usually update their equipment and facilities. The important takeaway is that in the best case scenario, your selected school will have an outstanding reputation, accreditation and a state-of-the-art facility with modern equipment.

Job Placement Rates.  Initially, find out what the graduation rates are for the culinary institutes you are examining. Low graduation rates are signs that many students were dissatisfied with either the colleges or the programs and dropped out. They may also signify that the instructors were not qualified to teach the curriculum. Request that the schools furnish their job placement rates also. If a school has a high job placement rate, it will help verify that it has a good or excellent reputation within the cooking community, as well as a broad network of professional contacts. Be wary of any school that will not furnish this information.

Location.  The culinary institute that you choose should be within driving distance of your El Mirage home, unless you are willing to relocate. You may consider attending school online, but you would still have to travel for your externship training. Conversely, maybe you have chosen to attend a particular culinary arts college located in a different state due to its prominence and programs offered. It would be a good idea to visit the campus before enrolling, to make sure that you are satisfied with the area and your potential living conditions. Inspect the training facilities personally to make certain they are modern and that the equipment is state of the art. Consider also that some schools concentrate their job placement programs within their regional communities, so choose a location where you will satisfied working.

Class Sizes.  The ideal approach to learn how to cook is with lots of one-on-one training. If the cooking program you enroll in has large classes, you will undoubtedly get minimal personal attention from the instructors. The optimal way to assess the communication and interaction between instructors and students is to audit several of the classes. Ask a couple of the students what their experience has been. Find out if they are pleased with the level of attention they get in class as well as the entire course of training. Also, talk with a couple of the instructors and find out what their teaching philosophies are along with their histories and qualifications.

Flexible Class Schedules.  There is no point in enrolling in a culinary school if you will be unable to attend the classes. Therefore make sure that the school you pick provides class scheduling that can work with your hectic lifestyle. If you can only attend in the evening or on Saturdays or Sundays near El Mirage AZ due to your job schedule, make certain that the school you select offers either weekend or evening classes. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, confirm that the cooking college has a part-time alternative. Also, find out what the make-up protocol is if you have to miss a class as a result of work, family or other obligations.

Learn More About Culinary Schools Online in El Mirage

Find the Right El Mirage Cooking School

A successful career in the hospitality and restaurant business is dependent upon deciding on the appropriate cooking school. As we have addressed, there are several things that you should take into account when researching schools, such as their reputations, accreditation, and training facilities. As with any important decision, you must start by compiling information, and the optimal way to do that is by contacting cooking colleges directly, either in person or over the telephone. If you're not sure about which schools to consider, you may need to consider talking to chefs in your location about any culinary institutes they recommend.  Afterwards use the Internet to investigate these schools even more before contacting them. By taking the time to exhaustively research each of your education options, you will find yourself in a more ideal position to make an informed decision. And when you select the ideal school, you will have a wonderful beginning toward your goal of becoming a chef in El Mirage Arizona.

 




 

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