Associate of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts
The Associate of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts is a 24-month program that includes two 6-month residencies of classroom work, intensive hands-on learning in the kitchens and food services of NECI, and two 6-month, 700-hour internships.
The associate degree program in Culinary Arts is designed to prepare qualified students to become skilled culinary and kitchen professionals. Graduates are able to perform effectively in key positions in commercial kitchens, including: à la carte cook, baker, banquet cook, rounds cook, assistant garde manger chef, sous chef, and for highly dedicated and disciplined graduates, chef in a small restaurant.
Educational Objectives
To achieve its primary objective of training skilled cooks, NECI has established the following educational goals for the associate degree program:
- To impart to students a basic theoretical knowledge of cooking.
- To provide a good practical training in cooking skills.
- To help students develop the attributes of a good cook, including speed, stamina, dexterity, hand-eye coordination, timing, the ability to work with others, stressing always the aesthetics of food preparation and presentation.
- To test for and strengthen each student’s general education in the relevant areas of English, math, food science, and culinary history.
- To provide students with the rudiments of modern business management practices in the context of the food service industry.
- To secure internships that assess the nature and quality of each student’s training.
These educational objectives influence all facets of the program, from the curriculum and teaching techniques to the code of student conduct in the classroom, and serve as important guidelines for all those who study at NECI.
Credit Hour Requirements
Total minimum credit hours for the two-year program are 86 credits. Each year, 15 semester credit hours are accrued during internship. As outlined in the Program Graduation section of the Academic Catalog, students transferring between terms or programs, students receiving advanced placement, or students who, upon approval of the Department of Academics, receive a waiver of any program requirement, may graduate with fewer than 86 semester credit hours.
To learn more about this program, contact the Admissions department at 1.877.223.NECI (6324) or AdmissionsREMOVETHISBEFORESENDING@neci.edu.
There is information here about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who have completed this program, and other important information about this program.
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