The Culinary Institute of America offers three bachelor degrees, three associate degrees and two certificate programs.
Degree programs are available in culinary arts, wine and beverage studies, baking and pastry, and travel opportunities. The school also has 30-week accelerated certificate programs in culinary arts and wine and beverage studies.
The course work alternates between classroom-based instruction and practical instruction. Several courses focus on the business aspects of the food service industry, such as accounting and budget management, business planning and café operations. The school frequently sponsors trips to Manhattan restaurants to immerse students in a professional kitchen, and to expose them to the benefits and rigors of a culinary arts profession.
The school operates five Michelin-rated restaurants in New York that employ students under the tutelage of CIA chefs before graduation. These include Escoffier Restaurant, Ristorante Catarina de' Medici, St. Andrew's Café, American Bounty Restaurant and Apple Pie Bakery Café.
The CIA opened its St. Helena, California, campus in 1995 at the former Greystone Cellars of Napa Valley. The structure was the former home of Christian Brothers Winery and, in addition to the castle-inspired structure, the school acquired the surrounding grounds and 15 acres of its Merlot vineyards.
The CIA offers an accelerated 30-week culinary arts certificate program for students who have a bachelor's degree in hospitality or a food service-related field. The CIA also offers two-year associate of occupational studies degrees in culinary arts and baking and pastry, as well as a 30-week accelerated wine and beverages certificate program.
The school sponsors student trips to local wineries and facilitates teaching appearances by internationally known chefs such as Thomas Keller, who owns and operates the four-Michelin-star-rated The French Laundry in nearby Yountville.
The CIA operates the Wine Spectator restaurant at the Greystone campus, which employs students in the final weeks before graduation.
The CIA's San Antonio location offers culinary arts certification programs and professional development programs. The school focuses on Latin American cuisine and frequently sponsors seminars and workshops exploring the techniques and traditions of southwestern American cooking. Credits for the school's certificate programs transfer to the Hyde Park campus, where students can continue to pursue associate's and bachelor's degrees.
The CIA operates its Singapore campus in conjunction with the Singapore Institute of Technology and offers a bachelor's of professional studies in culinary arts management degree program there. The program provides 1,300 hours of practical kitchen course work, offers extensive instruction in Asian cuisine and grants students the choice of a school-sponsored trip to northern California or New York.