Locating Accredited Culinary Programs

As the popularity of culinary and foodservice careers has increased, so has the number of culinary programs and schools. With so many choices, how do you evaluate the value of a particular program? Culinary schools are not ranked nationally. One's ability to determine a quality program becomes a challenge.

One way to evaluate a culinary arts curriculum is to check if the particular school is accredited by the American Culinary Federation. Advantages of American Culinary Federation accreditation include:

* Enhancing graduates' credibility in obtaining employment;

* Conveying a high level of professionalism about a program;

* Adding nationwide attention and prestige to a program;

* Keeping faculty knowledgeable and in step with current practices;

* Helping convince administrators of the need to commit resources to maintain a high-quality program;

* Providing the credibility of a program among funding sources.

Programmatic accreditation from ACF is voluntary, and requires that curriculum, faculty, facilities, resources, support staff and organizational structure ail meet the standards set by the Accrediting Commission. Certain standards are monitored by ACF to make sure programs are of a high quality.

Among the hundreds of culinary and foodservice programs offered in the United States, some programs may or may not meet the standards of American Culinary Federation. Check before you leap.

For a list of American Culinary Federation accredited high school and postsecondary programs, visit www.acfchefs.org or call 800/624-9458, ext. 120.