Culinary Arts - AAS
If you love cooking, have a passion for food and have always dreamed of being a chef, then Bellingham Technical College’s Culinary Arts associate degree program is for you. BTC’s programs and certificates in Culinary Arts and Pastry Arts are ideal for students with cooking skills and an interest in the fast-growing food service industry.
You’ll receive training from an award-winning faculty in state-of-the-art kitchens and get the skills and experience you’ll need to get top jobs in the fast-paced culinary field. Hone your culinary arts skills and gain training in every aspect of food service – from chef to restaurant manager to hostess – at BTC’s Café Culinaire, where students run the International Buffet in winter quarter and a full-service a la carte restaurant in spring.
To expand on your cooking skills, you can also take classes for your pastry arts certificate and get training for the best pastry chef jobs.
The Culinary Arts Program is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the American Culinary Federation Foundation.
Awards for 2017-18: Congratulations to BTC's Culinary Arts students who competed in the American Culinary Federation Washington State Chefs Culinary Salon. BTC had the highest scores of all student competitors and took home gold, silver and bronze medals for their work.
Employment Information
76% BTC graduate placement rate
72% job placement rate in 2017-18 (for students graduating in 2016-17)
69% job placement rate in 2016-17 (for students graduating in 2015-16)
84% job placement rate in 2015-16 (for students graduating in 2014-15)
$42,286 starting annual wage
$52,416 average annual wage
$63,419 potential annual wage
- Employment and Wage Data Sources
BTC graduate employment rates:
The graduate employment rate reflects placement rates of students who graduated from BTC in 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17. The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges Data Linking for Outcomes Assessment database pulls from Unemployment Insurance (UI) data across Washington and Oregon. UI data do not reflect BTC graduates who (a) are employed in states beyond those listed above or outside of the United States, (b) are self-employed, (c) are active duty members of the armed forces, (d) continued on to another educational institution, and/or (e) did not provide a social security number while enrolled at BTC.
Wages:
Washington State Employment Security Department 2018 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates ( esd.wa.gov) reflect 2014-2017 employment
Starting annual wage = 25th percentile
Average annual wage = 50th percentile
Potential annual wage = 75th percentile
Graduation Information
21% graduation rate in 2018-19 (for students starting in 2015-16)
31% graduation rate in 2017-18 (for students starting in 2014-15)
37% graduation rate in 2016-17 (for students starting in 2013-14)
BTC Culinary Arts graduation rates: The graduation rate reflects the percentage of students starting in the Culinary Arts program who receive a Culinary Arts degree within three years.
Certification Information
25% ACF certification rate for students graduating in 2018-19
10% ACF certification rate for students graduating in 2017-18
BTC ACF certification rates: The ACF certification rate reflects the percentage of students graduating with a Culinary Arts degree who receive ACF certification within one year of program completion.
- Employment and Wage Data Sources
1Employment data come from the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and reflect WA/OR employment for students enrolled at BTC between 2016-17 and 2018-19. Students are included in the employment rate if they left with a credential. Rates are not shown for programs with fewer than 10 students meeting the above criteria.
2Wage data come from Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) 2020 Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (Washington State wage) and reflect 2015-2018 employment. Wage data represent occupations that BTC faculty have identified as the most relevant career paths for program graduates. Note that these wages reflect employees with varying educational levels/credentials. For cases in which multiple occupations have been identified by faculty, a weighted percentile is calculated using each occupation’s percentile wage and employment size estimate. Wages are not shown for programs for which occupations do not meet the ESD’s minimum thresholds for publishing. If the program has wage data from the Washington SBCTC that involves shift work, these ESD wages reflect the same number of hours used in the annual wage calculation. Starting wage = 25th percentile, median wage = 50th percentile, wage potential = 75th percentile.
Estimated Program Costs