# Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate or A.A. Degree?



## dch (Sep 11, 2008)

I'm looking into culinary schools and after narrowing down my options I'm stuck in a predicament. I applied for the Baking and Pastry Arts certificate program at the Culinary Institute of America California Campus but there is a Baking and Pastry Arts program at my local community college which is much cheaper and would give me an associates degree. The problem is which one do I go for? The degree or the name?


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Degree always wins.


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## erik (Jan 23, 2006)

I agree with M Brown. Take the degree.

You can actually get a surprisingly good education at a community college. I got my degree from one, and have many times felt I had the better education than friends and coworkers who got more expensive educations. 

But then again, maybe I just paid better attention in my classes


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## scottae316 (May 7, 2008)

Degree wins hands down. If you want to advance in management you can get a Bachelors degree and many if not all of your credits from your Associates will transfer. As said also, many CC (Community College) provide excellent training at a fraction of the cost. One of the top City Club chefs is a graduate of a CC.


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