Culinary school adds to debate over higher education vs. cost
After he was laid off in 2011, Sev arrest Allen found himself sitting in an office at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando.
Then 25, Allen had fond memories of helping his grandma in her kitchen as a child. Anyone can follow a YouTube cooking video or a recipe, but Allen said he wanted to learn the “proper way.”
“Culinary school doesn’t teach you how to be a chef,” Allen said. “It teaches you how to cook.”
But halfway through culinary school, Allen considered quitting. Surrounded by fellow students who wanted to become the next Food Network star, he just wanted to feed his family — and he wasn’t sure he could do that on a chef ’s pay.
Salary estimates for culinary-school graduates feed into the ongoing national debate over higher education’s value vs. tuition cost.
The median pay for cooks working in a restaurant is about $25,430 per year, or about $12.23 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. That balloons to $43,180 per year, or about $20.76 per hour, for a chef with about five years of experience.
And culinary school isn’t cheap. Tuition can cost as much as $32,000 a semester. Degree programs vary, but a student could spend $125,000. Classes cover everything from good time management to knife skills to sanitation.
“For most people, it’s hard,” said Allen, who credits an instructor with encouraging him to stay. “The money isn’t what most
people consider sustainable to live.”
Out of more than 30 students, Allen is one of about four who still work in the culinary industry. He is a personal chef and works for a caterer.
His $34,000 culinaryschool tuition has been whittled down to about $8,000. His degree gave him credentials and skills, while his networking kept him working.
“The people who aren’t successful at this culinary thing, it’s either poor networking or you don’t have the drive you need to become a chef,” he said.
Holly Kapherr of Orlando never wanted to be a chef, but she went to culinary school with the goal of becoming a food writer. She doesn’t regret her education.
“My culinary-school education was integral in my career,” Kapherr said. “I feel I’m a better writer for it.”
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando, Kapherr soon found out that a $10.50-an-hour job as a cook wouldn’t help her meet the monthly payment on her $45,000 loan.
The amount she owed eventually swelled to $90,000 but is down to $55,000, thanks to Kapherr’s additional education, work experience with freelance and magazine writing, and her ambition.
Her culinary degree has also helped in a tangible way. After losing a full-time job last year, Kapherr made some extra money as a pastry chef.
“Let me tell you, working in the kitchen at 32 is a little different than working in a kitchen at 22,” Kapherr said ruefully. “It hurts.”
Kathleen Blake, owner of downtown Orlando restaurant The Rusty Spoon, had a non-traditional road to her culinary education.
Blake moved to San Francisco at age 17, convinced she would be hired immediately by a restaurant. She had three years of restaurant experience under her belt — but not the knives and European experience her competitors had.
“They weren’t girls from Iowa who didn’t know what arugula was,” said Blake, now a four-time nominee for a James Beard Foundation award, one of the most coveted awards for chefs.
To advance herself, she also applied to the Community College of San Francisco’s Culinary Apprenticeship Program — not the more expensive culinary academy. She took classes, worked at the school’s kitchen and completed her internship.
Blake bought a knife at Macy’s and started showing up at restaurants to work for free. She read the Sunday paper every week for the restaurant reviews, while pocketing away money to dine at those eateries.
“Culinary school acts as a foundation but you have to add bricks to the foundation if you want to move on,” the Orlando chef said.
Herberto Segura, executive chef of Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs, likes to see a combination of schooling and work experience on job candidates’ résumés.
“I like the fact that they committed themselves,” he said.
Segura started working in a kitchen to support himself through school — but found himself enjoying the work. With the encouragement of his employers, he attended what is now the Lincoln Culinary Institute, which has a campus in West Palm Beach.
“Until you have someone teaching you how to do something step by step, you won’t learn the soul of it, the essence of it,” Segura said. “You can learn stocks in the kitchen, but when someone teaches [you] the steps, then you really understand what you’re doing.”
Still Segura recommends that potential chefs spend about eight months working in a professional kitchen before committing to culinary school.
“See if you’re going to make it in this business,” he said.