Culinary education can we afford this?

This is a question was given to me by a concerned parent last night. Their daughter is looking forward to going to culinary school so in her junior year they are researching the different schools both public and private both not-for-profit and propriety schools. I never thought of this when I saw the variance in costs including all feeding housing and general expenses in some cases the cost of a two-year associate degree is over $60,000, and in the not-for-profit school. Has risen to 12,800 and that school was a commuter school so the student lives off-campus. I understand the cost of food going up, and the cost of hiring highly qualified faculty are one of the major things causing the bottom line to rise.  After I researched these costs, it is the administration costs that are out of control, for example just in my college the administration costs have gone up by nearly 15% last year. On the other side of the coin that has been a major reduction in hiring full-time faculty and the public institutions are seeking to reduce full-time faculty to just the department head and maybe one other faculty member for each department.

 I understand some of the private schools are some the finest in the world have to charge a lot more to be able to survive but now the Department of Education is asking both private and public schools to be able to prove and the student repay their student loans.

One of the biggest marketing ploys that some schools use is that tell the student they’ll be earning 35 to 45,000 a year after a two-year degree and in reality of the lucky be earning between 14 and $16 hour after being awarded their degree. So what can we do about it we need to get into that in stronger partnerships with industry and developed strong apprenticeship programs for the incoming students? I think it was properly planned it would create another path for students and their family to be able to afford the cost of going to school. As you all well know I am a former apprentice and I did not pursue my upper-level diplomas until I had completed the apprenticeship and worked in industry two years. If the plan was really in place the three years will be developed to just building the skills of the student become a journeyman cook. Then on to college to learn the priorities of management and good financial controls for their operations. Most of these courses could be taught online and could be approved by all the accrediting boards nationwide.

So this is something to think about, because parent who spoke to me obviously has limited income and has saved for his daughter’s education but they are being priced out of it by the exorbitant cost to go to culinary school. The total cost of my sons Dr. Degree was about $30,000, 50 percent of the highest most expensive school in the United States granting a two-year degree. Anyway let’s  talk about good subject is being driven home every day when parents get their first price shock and try to place their children into culinary school. Chef once said to me that nobody needs to dine in our restaurants they have their dollars and can go anywhere and spend them; he reiterated that the true value in anything we cooked was not the cost but the quality of the dish and the customers dining pleasure. Today some of these dishes we serve in education are becoming too expensive

So let's talk about it

Chef.

Where have our standards gone?

Here we go again another perfect example of why Edward Deming called higher education administrations the ultimate example of anarchy in high places. Sadly in my past college  are not attempting to replace me with another certified master chef for the near future but they can retain the chef in residence that does not contribute or assist the academic standards that have been set by faculty members both past and present. If we look around the country especially in our field of professional activities we have seen standards been eroded away and accepted by the general public.
When we allow the so-called chefs to come to a national convention who doesn't even dress properly blue jeans and then demeans the apprentices trying to assist him during his demonstration and we call him chef. I call him showbiz clown that should stay in that area of entertainment. We venerate these people who use foul language, verbally abuse other professionals and call him chef . Where is our voice in preventing this aberrant behavior and why arnt we saying this is enough and this is not what we are.  Unfortunately even today the thinking in this country is that I've you can do nothing else to go into food service either as a cook or a waiter. I interviewed a student one day with her father who quite honestly told me that he hoped that she would get over becoming a chef and get a real job. After I threw him out of my office, I told the young lady that if she really has the passion she would become very successful. Today she is a restaurant owner, has a wonderful life and contributes a lot back to our community.
So we have to now open our windows and yell I'm tired of this and we've had enough of this demeaning behavior. We need to move forward and believe we are the professionals who spend our lives learning and perfecting our craft. We as chefs and cooks need to set the professional standards that we respect and encourage every new young person who comes in and looks at us for leadership. Chef once said to me that I needed God in my everyday life as a cook and he added to that that God's stood for good orderly direction. So finally where are the clowns I hope they're no longer in our kitchens only if we accept them as those who are not worthy to be in our profession