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Welcome to the Culinary Institute of America

  • Ѹ Associate Degree Programs

  • Feed Your Passion and Creativity

    You’re going to love our associate degree programs because you’ll be doing what you love! You’ll get creative in our kitchens and bakeshops, and learn in courses that are 100% focused on food. Discover new ingredients, techniques, flavors, and so much more. Then put it all into practice during your internship, and by preparing and serving food in our public restaurants and bakery cafés.

    Choose your major, master your mise en place (French for “everything in its place”), and get ready to succeed in the food world.


    Associate Degree in Baking and Pastry Arts

    Baking and Pastry Arts

    Looking for a creative career with a sweet payoff? Major in baking and pastry arts. In less than two years, you’ll learn to craft high-end breads, chocolates, confections, pastries, and plated desserts.



    Associate Degree in Culinary Arts

    Culinary Arts

    Love to cook? Want to be a top chef or restaurateur? The culinary arts major is for you. You’ll explore global cuisines, develop creative menus, manage staff, and gain key organizational skills.


  • Real-World, Live-Action Classrooms

    You just won’t find this many opportunities to get real in the food world anywhere else—the most on-campus, student-staffed restaurants around, and an internship at one of 2,000+ leading food businesses (that’s a lot of industry contacts!)

  • Have Prior Work Experience? Go Turbo!

    Earn your Ѹ degree in as little as 15 months with this accelerated degree program option. Learn more >

  • Frequently Viewed



  • Want to Go Higher in Food?

    Consider a Ѹ bachelor’s degree, built on the same hands-on core. Then, go even further with the .

    Already have some college credits? Check out our degree completion programs for transfer and adult students.

  • Questions? Ѹ Student Ambassadors Can Help! Chat now.

  • Sarah Baldwin, Ѹ baking and pastry arts alumni. Photo taken at Ron Ben-Israel Cakes, New York, NY.

    Alumni Spotlight

    Sarah Baldwin ’06
    Creative Director, Ron Ben-Israel Cakes
    “My best memory at the Ѹ was coming back after my internship and feeling like I finally had a sense of focus about where I wanted my career to go. I’m currently working at my dream job.”
    Read More
    William Heubel, Ѹ Chef-Instructor—Culinary Arts

    Faculty Spotlight

    William P. Heubel
    Associate Professor—Culinary Arts
    Professional Background:
    Executive Chef, Old Edwards Inn and Spa, Highlands, NC; Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa, Kona, HI. Chef de Cuisine, Canoe House Restaurant, Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows, Kohala, HI. Sous Chef, Four Seasons at Manele Bay, Lanai, HI; Highlands Inn, Carmel, CA; L'Auberge de Sedona, Sedona, AZ; Ventana Inn, Big Sur, CA.
    Read More
  • Did You Know?


    Three times a year, every year, more than 100+ of the very best food, beverage, and hospitality companies attend the food world’s best Career Fair at Ѹ—looking to hire.
    Learn More