Although attending the baking schools in New York is not a requirement to become a professional chef, attending the baking schools in New York serves as a form of formal training before running a bakery or a pastry department.
The baking industry has a predicted 5% job growth per year with a median starting salary of $13.32 per hour.
The Retailer’s Bakery Association recently reported annual sales of more than $18 billion, which does not include the baking done in hotels, restaurants and private clubs where the clientele expects more “scratch” or “finished” baked goods produced on the premises.
Career options include baker, cake decorator, pastry chef, executive pastry chef, baking products sales as well as owning a bakery business.
What baking schools will do for you is to provide you with the foundational skills that will help you get started in a bakery and pastry kitchen and most importantly grow more quickly through the ranks.
In New York, there are several avenues, such as online courses, community colleges, technical schools and even four-year universities where you can obtain a certificate or a degree.
These avenues all take different approaches to prepare students for a career as a pastry chef. Read on to see the Baking schools in New York and ensure you read carefully to pick out valid points.
Bakers Enrich America
The wholesale baking industry mixes tradition and innovation to feed the world and the economy. The baking industry generates some major dough while employing almost 800-thousand people in the United States.
Bakers are found in all 50 states, in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The baking industry employs almost 800,000 skilled individuals, generates over $44 billion in direct wages, and has an overall economic impact of over $154 billion.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median salary for bakers was $26,520 per year in 2018 with job opportunities projected to increase by about 8 per cent in the decade-spanning 2016-2026.
For pastry chefs, the median salary in 2019 was $44,077 with an 11 per cent projected job growth rate over the next 10 years.
Is there a difference between a Baker and a Pastry Chef?
To those outside the culinary world, the difference between a baker and a pastry chef may seem negligible.
After all, you don’t need to know the title of the person creating your hearty bread and delicate desserts—just as long as they keep making them.
However, to those who work in the industry, or are thinking about entering the field, there is a marked difference between a baker and a pastry chef.
While these terms may sometimes seem interchangeable, they actually describe different roles. So what’s the distinction?
The primary difference between a pastry chef and a baker is that the word chef literally means boss.
So while pastry chefs may bake, their title indicates that they have authority. A pastry chef is also a baker, but a baker isn’t necessarily a pastry chef.
Career Paths Available to Pastry Chefs
There is a world of options to choose from once you graduate from the baking schools in New York, as someone who is just entering the workforce. The different kinds of environments you can work in include high-end restaurants, bakeries, hotels, stadiums, and catering.
As with most food-service and hospitality-related jobs, don’t expect to get rich immediately you start. No matter which school you went to, you’ll start from the bottom and work your way up.
Jobs in the industry are usually pretty easy to come by, due to high turnover rates and the constant need for skilled workers.
Some of the routes you can take in this career path include chocolatiers, artisan bread bakers, cake decorators, restaurant pastry chefs, confectionaries, ice cream makers, research and development. Furthermore, other career options include:
- Pastry chef
- Pastry sous chef
- Caterer
- Retail bakery menu designer
- Cake decorator
- Bakery owner
The list of some of the best baking schools in New York
The following baking schools in New York are simply institutions where you will be trained in baking and pastry. You will find our information sources at the end of the article.
- Culinary Institute of America
- Niagara County Community College
- Monroe College
- Alfred State College
- Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science
- Institute of Culinary Education
- Erie Community College
- Sullivan County Community College
- Suffolk County Community College
- The International Culinary Center
Culinary Institute of America
This is one of the most popular institutes in NY that offer baking programs to students. They have awarded about 162 baking and pastry arts degrees in the most recent data year and the highest degree type offered is the associate degree.
It is a wonderful choice for students who are pursuing a degree in baking and pastry arts/baker/pastry chef.
The Culinary Institute of America is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
The CIA Associate in Baking and Pastry Arts degree program is where you can make your baking dream happen!
In less than two years, you’ll be well on your way to a successful career in this creative profession thanks to the best hands-on learning experience with our expert, industry-proven faculty.
They offer Culinary Institute of America scholarships and grants through our New York, California, and Texas campuses for qualified students. See their tuition details.
Niagara County Community College
- Credential Awarded:1 Year Certificate
- Campus:Niagara-on-the-Lake
- Delivery:1 Year
This community college made it to the list of the baking schools in New York because they offer certificates in Baking & Pastry Arts.
The faculty at NCCC are all certified by the American Culinary Federation and they offer classes taught in state-of-the-art kitchen facilities.
The program will combine both classroom learning as well as laboratories.
The certificate in Baking & Pastry Arts provides students with the basic knowledge of baking and pastry techniques that will prepare them for employment.
Students will also be able to demonstrate an understanding of kitchen etiquette and professionalism, apply purchasing principles to the operation of a bakery and/or pastry shop.
To help fund your education access $1.5 million in scholarships and awards made available by their generous donors. You will be automatically considered for some awards, however other awards will require an application.
Tuition & Fees for domestic applicants:
Level One: $3,541.94
Level Two: $2,599.94
Tuition and Fees for International Applicants
Level One: $10,554.45
Level Two: $9,057.45
See the details on tuition and fees.
Monroe College
This is regarded as one of the baking schools in New York because it offers programs in Baking and Pastry.
CINY’s Baking and Pastry program is for students who are passionate about the culinary industry but want to specialize in a particular niche.
You’ll learn about pastry making, safe food handling, cost control, and food purchasing.
A capstone course provides direct experience in the student-run Pastry Kiosk and Dining Lab. 60 credits, Hands-on, career focused skills and a lot of networking opportunities. See the tuition and fees at Monroe College.
Alfred State College
Alfred State College has a department that includes two programs: culinary arts – focusing on food production and management; and baking, production and management – focusing on retail baking production.
The department also offers a three-year dual degree program, along with an opportunity to obtain a baccalaureate degree in technology management in the following two years.
Tuition: $3,535.00, see the tuition and fee details.
Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science
This is one of the baking schools in New York because they have programs under baking and pastry arts. They offer hands-on leaning which happens in their professional-grade pastry labs.
Their students learn the science and craft of producing breads, pastries, cakes and other items both savory and sweet.
Tuition (undergraduate) for Paul Smiths College is $32,012 for the 2022-2023academic year.
Housing – Tier 1: Currier, Livermore, LMS, Saratoga, Lakeside, Clinton: $7,498
Tuition (graduate): $742 per credit. See tuition details.
Institute of Culinary Education
Institute of Culinary Education being one of the baking schools in New York offers the Pastry & Baking Arts program which combines classic technique and modern trends to best prepare you for a new career.
This program delivers an amazing wealth of skills and knowledge. Graduates of their renowned program have gone in to win national awards, write top cookbooks and appear on TV and in leading food magazines.
Program Duration: 8, 10 & 11 month options
Class Times: morning, afternoon, evening and weekend
Tuition, Fees & Charges: $34,100-$40,620
Erie Community College
The Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate Program at Erie community college is designed to equip the student with the necessary skills to be hired in a supermarket or retail bakery, as well as assist a pastry chef in a hotel, restaurant, or club.
The Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate program is designed to equip the student with the necessary skills that will make them marketable. The program is accredited by American Culinary Federation Education Foundation, Inc.
Fees of Culinary Art Cat Erie Community College New York:
$4,900 (tuition fees), Estimated Annual fees include rent, books, and expenses for food, which includes $16,000/ year.
Sullivan County Community College
As one of the top baking schools in New York, they offer Pastry Arts which prepares students for entry level work in baking trade as a Journeyman baker, cake decorator or confectioner.
Their training is hands-on and there is an emphasis on theory and practice.
Tuition: $495.00 Per Credit Hour. See the tuition details.
Suffolk County Community College
Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) is a two-year public college on Long Island, NY sponsored by SUNY and Suffolk County, New York in the USA.
In-state residents of New York pay an annual price of $16,780 to attend Suffolk County Community College on a full time basis, while out-of-state residents are charged a total cost of $21,650. Visit their website to find out more.
The International Culinary Center
The International Culinary Center (ICC), formerly The French Culinary Institute (FCI), is no longer enrolling students and has collaborated with the award-winning Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) to bring the best of ICC to ICE’s New York and Los Angeles campuses.
The legacy lives on: Find your culinary voice at the preeminent private culinary school in the country.
Find details of Institute of Culinary Education above.
Choosing the right baking and pastry school
Before you choose a baking and pastry school, it is very important that you decide the kind of job that you envision yourself working in when you are done with school.
It is also important that you talk about how much money you want to make. Not to forget the level of leadership that you aspire to reach and how much it will take to get to such a level of leadership.
It is also important that you talk about how location and personal finances play into your tough decision.
When you consider these things, it will help you in finding or in choosing the best baking schools in New York.
The program fee is another thing to consider. How much schooling can you afford? Is it better to enroll in a $100,000 bachelor’s degree program at a college or university or take night classes at a community college or culinary institute?
Also, considering how long you want to be in school will also be beneficial. There are baking schools in New York with fast-tracked programs, say over a six months period.
There are detailed programs in these baking schools in New York. Programs that take between two years and four years to complete.
What are your plans for after school? If your dream is restaurant management or hospitality executive you might lean toward a four-year bachelor’s degree.
But if you prefer to start as a baker or pastry chef right out of school, you might prefer programs that work hard to place you in a job or apprenticeship during your education.
Whatever your choices are in choosing the baking schools in New York, as long as you have the skill, passion, and good working ethics, you can be successful in this business.
Most Popular Majors Related to Baking & Pastry Arts
- Culinary Arts/Chef Training
- Restaurant, Culinary, & Catering Management/Manager
- Culinary Science/Culinology
- General Cooking & Related Culinary Arts
- Wine Steward/Sommelier
What will you learn in a pastry apprenticeship?
There are so many cooking or baking schools that offer apprenticeship programs to their students.
Apprenticeship programs offer students a chance to enter the workforce while still attending school for additional training to learn their craft in a real restaurant while also getting paid.
Apprenticeships can last one to four years, after which the student can use that valuable experience to move on to another job in the industry or even stay on as a permanent employee.
A lot of times the baking schools in New York work with known restaurants in the region to recommend aspiring chefs for employment and also to keep close tabs on their progress once such students are placed.
It’s a symbiotic relationship that benefits the students, the school and the restaurants alike.
These restaurants serve as extensions of classrooms where students get the opportunity to learn from a reputable chef, as well as work in various areas of the kitchen.
iTop Screen Recorder is an online screen recorder that allows you to record desktop screen videos. It allows you to make a video clip out of everything on your PC desktop, you can also record your online baking learning courses.
What do you think about these baking schools in New York? Please share your thoughts with our readers.
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References:
culinarylabschool.com: baking-and-pastry-school
Prepler.com: best-colleges-for-baking-and-pastry-arts
collegefactual.com: culinary-arts/baking-and-pastry-arts-baker-pastry-chef