The Culinary Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville has operated since 2007 and offers a culinary arts certificate program that consists of 10 courses lasting approximately four weeks each. The curriculum includes Kitchen Skills I through IV, Kitchen Sanitation, Garde Manger I and II, Baking Skills I and II and Breakfast Cookery. The kitchen skills series explores the core competencies of culinary arts, such as knife skills, the five mother sauces and stock preparation. The garde manger classes focus on cold preparations, such as dressings, canapés, hors d'oeuvres and ice sculpting. Breakfast cookery centers on the use of eggs, with additional instruction in crepes, cereals and grains. Each course costs $450, as February 2011. Students must also purchase a school-approved uniform, text and knife and utensil kit, available through the school for $400.
The Art Institute of Tennessee in Nashville operates in conjunction with Argosy University, and has a combined 60,000 square feet of office, kitchen and classroom space. The Art Institute offers four programs at the Nashville campus: diploma in culinary arts skills, diploma in baking and pastry, associate of occupational studies in culinary arts and associate of occupational studies in baking and pastry. The associate of occupational studies and diploma programs in culinary arts consist of study in classical French techniques, international and regional cuisine, garde manger, baking and pastry and restaurant operations. Unlike the diploma program, the associate of occupational studies program requires liberal arts coursework, including classes in social sciences, communications and mathematics. Both programs require a 100-hour externship fulfilled at a school-approved hotel or restaurant. The associate of occupational studies and diploma programs in baking and pastry shares much of their curricula with the culinary arts program, with the exception of 16 credit hours of advanced instruction in baking and pastry. As of February, 2011, the cost of the associate of occupational studies program in culinary arts cost $54,432, and the associate of occupational studies in culinary arts with a concentration in baking and pastry program cost $62,208.
L' Ecole Culinaire in Memphis offers two paths of study -- an associate of occupational studies program in culinary arts and a diploma program in culinary essentials. The programs differ from traditional culinary programs in that students take only one course at a time, with each lasting 10 weeks. The associate of occupational studies in culinary arts consists of 130 credit hours in cookery theory and 14 hours of applied general education. The culinary essentials program provides 92 quarter credit hours of instruction in cooking theory and six quarter credit hours of applied general education. According to a 26 February 2011 email from the L' Ecole Culinaire admissions department, the cost of the associate of occupational studies in culinary arts program is $27,520, as of February 2011.
The Viking Cooking School in Nashville offers instruction in a variety of formats, including hands-on workshops, series classes and demonstrations. The school also has classes designed for children and adolescents. The hands-on workshops focus on creating recipes alongside the chef-instructor, and limit participation to 12 students. The demonstration classes consist of watching the chef-instructor produce recipes the students can recreate later at home. Viking Cooking School also has a three-day culinary basics class, which teaches fundamental cooking principles, and a 12-week cooking essentials class, which concerns advanced cooking techniques. As of February 2011, the cost of classes ranged from $69 for the one-day "Basic Knife Skills" course, to $599 for the six-day "Viking University" series.
Students attending schools accredited through the Tennessee Higher Education Commission are eligible to apply for state and federal financial aid. Programs available to students and parents of students wising to attend culinary school in Tennessee include Pell grants, Stafford loans, PLUS loans and many private grants and scholarships. A student must submit her free application for federal student aid -- FAFSA -- by June 30th for consideration for the following fall semester. According to the U.S. Department of Education's website, however, students are encouraged to apply for federal financial aid as early as January 1st for the upcoming fall semester.