Culinary Arts

Turn Your Passion for Cooking into a Career

Our Culinary Arts program will help you expand your skills and learn from American Culinary Federation (ACF) qualified Culinary Arts faculty chefs as they develop both your technical abilities and your theoretical foundation in preparing you to grow your career possibilities. Develop skills in knife, tool, and equipment handling and apply principles of food preparation to produce a variety of quality dishes. Students will also complete various industry certifications and gain valuable hands-on industry work experience in the field that add value & create a competitive advantage as you progress through your career. Through this program, you can prepare for the workforce, aim for promotion or transfer to a related bachelor’s degree program.

The Culinary Arts degree program is certified by the American Culinary Federation (ACF).

To view graduation rates, visit https://www.myccp.online/institutional-research/facts-stats. Here you will find a number of dashboards provided by the Office of Institutional Research. Clicking on an image will direct you to the appropriate report. To find this data, you should select - Graduate Dashboard.

Career Options

Careers

Find your path.

Baker – est. salary $29,724
Butcher and Meat Cutters– est. salary $34,833

Chefs and Head Cooks – est. salary $55,289
Cooks, private household – est. salary $195,974

 

**EMSI Data, 2022; The greater Philadelphia region; a percentage of people in these jobs may have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Transfer Opportunities

Videos & Multimedia

Courses and Completion Sequence

The following courses and sequence of courses is designed for the optimal success and completion of the Culinary Arts degree/certificate. Any alterations should be discussed with your academic advisor.

Semester 1

Course Number and Name Credits Advisory Notes Course Type
EASC 111 - Environmental Conservation or
EASC 111H - Environmental Conservation (Honors)
3 credits   Scientific Reasoning
THM 110 - Introduction to the Hospitality Industry 3 credits THM 110 is a prerequisite for CULA 27, THM 285 and THM 180 Major Course
ENGL 101 - English Composition I or
ENGL 101H - English Composition I (Honors)
3 credits ENGL 101 is a prerequisite for CULA 288 and for ENGL 102 Writing/Research/Info Lit 1
FNMT 118 - Intermediate Algebra 3 credits FNMT 118 is a prerequisite for CAHM 271 Quantitative Reasoning
CULA 170 - Elementary Food Preparation, Principles, and Practices 4 credits CULA 170 is a prerequisite for CULA 171 and THM 285 Major Course
  • To qualify for the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in Culinary Arts, students must complete a minimum of 64 credit hours as described and attain a grade point average of 2.0 or better.
  • Completing this sequence of classes will help you to graduate and transfer credits to a four-year school.
  • Please see a Culinary Arts advisor for help.
  • This program is designed to provide students with the option of entering the workforce or transferring to a bachelor's degree program after earning their associate degree
  • Follow this course schedule each semester and you’ll earn your associate degree in two years
  • Make sure you discuss your first semester schedule and your educational plan with an advisor or counselor when you register.

Semester 2

Course Number and Name Credits Advisory Notes Course Type
CIS 103 - Introduction to Information Technology 3 credits CIS 103 is a prerequisite for CAHM 271 Tech Comp
CULA 171 - Quantity Food Preparation 4 credits CULA 171 is a prerequisite for CULA 210 and CULA 220 Major Course
CULA 151 - Elementary Baking and Pastry 3 credits CULA 151 is a prerequisite for CULA 210 Major Course
THM 285 - Dining Room Management 3 credits In this applied learning course, students gain valuable hands-on work experience providing dining room service for campus dining events Major Course
ENGL 102 - The Research Paper or
ENGL 102H - The Research Paper (Honors)
3 credits   Writing/Research/Info Lit 2
  • To qualify for the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in Culinary Arts, students must complete a minimum of 65 credit hours as described and attain a grade point average of 2.0 or better.

Semester 3

Course Number and Name Credits Advisory Notes Course Type
ENGL 117 - Group and Team Communication 3 credits   Oral Communication/Creative Exp.
CULA 210 - American Cuisine 4 credits CULA 210 is a prerequisite for CULA 270 Major Course
CULA 211 - International Cuisine 4 credits CULA 211 is a prerequisite for CULA 270 Major Course
Cultural Analysis & Interpretation
CULA 220 - Culinary Arts Work Experience I 4 credits CULA 220 is a prerequisite for CULA 271 and CULA 288 Major Course
  • To qualify for the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in Culinary Arts, students must complete a minimum of 65 credit hours as described and attain a grade point average of 2.0 or better.

Semester 4

Course Number and Name Credits Advisory Notes Course Type
 CULA 270 - Advanced Food Production, Nutrition and Finishing 4 credits Prerequisite: CULA 210, CULA 211 Major Course
CULA 288- Culinary Arts Work Experience II 3 credits In this applied learning course, students gain valuable hands-on industry work experience in the field. Major Course
CULA 271 - Food & Beverage Revenue Management 3 credits   Major Course
CULA 161 - Food Service Safety & Sanitation 2 credits   Major Course
CULA 240 - Modern Foods & Techniques 4 credits   Major Course
  • To qualify for the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree in Culinary Arts, students must complete a minimum of 65 credit hours as described and attain a grade point average of 2.0 or better.
  • Please see a Culinary Arts advisor for help with graduation process

General Education Requirements:

All general education requirements necessary for graduation are met through the courses in the program as indicated above. Students who wish to take courses that differ from the general education courses indicated above must complete a course substitution request form. To access the form, login to the MyCCP portal, and in the Student tab, under Electronic Forms, click on the Records and Registration Forms link, then choose Request For Course Substitution Of Graduation Requirement link. A more detailed explanation of the College's general education requirements is also available.

* Students who plan to transfer to four-year institutions should choose their science elective based on the science requirements of their intended transfer institution.

Featured Career

Program Information