The Louisiana Culinary Institute (louisianaculinary.com) in Baton Rouge offers an associate's degree in culinary arts with a concentration in advance baking and pastry. The program takes four semesters to complete, with classes held five hours a day, four days a week. LCI offers up-to-date classrooms, including three general demonstration labs, a bakery demonstration lab and a full-service restaurant kitchen and dining room. Students are eligible for federal financial aid, as well as additional private scholarships. Throughout the school year, LCI holds iron-chef style competitions for the students, such as the Race to Cannes competition.
Delgado Community College (dcc.edu) in New Orleans offers a pastry arts division within its culinary arts program. Graduates of the pastry program receive an associate of applied science degree in pastry arts. The A.A.S. pastry degree is a two-year program open to all Delgado Students in good standing. In addition, Delgado also offers a certificate program in pastry arts. The certificate is either completed on its own or in conjunction with another Delgado Community College major. Both the pastry arts degree and the certificate prepare graduates for entry-level jobs in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
The John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University (nicholls.edu) in Thibodaux offers a variety of options for would-be chefs. Students of Nicholls may complete a minor in culinary arts through the Folse Institute. Those accepted into the institute as their primary school work toward either a two-year or four-year degree. The two-year degree is a generalized culinary arts degree that trains students in the basics of food preparation, restaurant management and sanitation. Students who choose to stay on at the institute for the full four-year program then choose a particular specialty to focus on. For aspiring pastry chefs, this would be the pastry and baking specialty. At the end of the program graduates receive a bachelor of science degree, and develop extensive hands-on experience through work at Bistro, a student-run restaurant. Nicholls State and the Folse Institute are one of the few programs which award a B.S. in pastry arts.
Metairie's Sclafani (sclafaniculinary.com) is a cooking school, rather than a college or trade school. There is no formal degree or certificate awarded, though students do have the option to take the ServSafe exam for the ServSafe certificate. The program is full-time for four weeks, requiring 120 hours to be logged. These 120 hours are accepted by the American Culinary Federation Educational Institute towards re-certification. Sclafani focuses on three areas of cooking: culinary arts, baking (pastry) and food service management. The program at Sclafani is intense and short, and prospective students should be aware that the almost $4,000 tuition fee is not covered by federal financial aid. However, Louisiana residents are eligible for a grant that will pay up to 100 percent of tuition.