A baking education can include anything from a 1-day certificate course to a 4-year pastry and baking degree program at one of the culinary schools across the United States. Choosing the certificate or degree program, courses and baking training that's right for you is the key to advancing your baking career.

1. Find a school that offers baking course work that interests you.
2. Choose schools for baking based on their merit, course work and placement advantages.
3. Look for culinary baking training that fits into your budget and time table.

Network with other baking and pastry students to get information about baking schools. Join online culinary groups, and request information from as many culinary schools for baking as you can before making a decision on which one is right for you.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Choose accredited baking schools

Find schools based on their merit, accreditation and previous graduates.

I recommend: The American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Commission (ACFFAC) lists over 200 post-secondary culinary institutes and certified secondary schools.

Consider the length of the baking program

The length of baking and pastry programs varies widely depending on the certificate, diploma or degree. Find a program with the quantity and quality of training you desire.

I recommend: The Arizona Culinary Institute in Scottsdale offers a short program that allows you to earn a diploma in Culinary Arts, Baking and Restaurant Management in 9 months. The San Francisco Baking Institute offers several options from the 5-day workshops for the novice to the 18-week professional bread and pastry training program.

Find a baking school that offers hands-on experience and good job placement

Talk to the school's placement offices and talk to recent graduates to find out if they were happy with the hands-on experience or placement help they got from the baking school.

I recommend: The Connecticut Culinary Institute's Professional Pastry and Baking Program includes a 10-week paid externship. Find a school with good placement rates such as the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, with graduates who reportedly receive an average of two or three job offers each after graduation. The French Pastry School in Chicago begins the job placement process soon after you start their program.

National baking classes and schools

Many culinary schools provide locations throughout the country with pastry and baking classes and degrees.

I recommend: Culinary schools that offer pastry and baking programs include the multi-state Johnson and Wales University that offers either an Associate's or Bachelor's degree in baking and pastry in North Carolina, Colorado, Rhode Island or Florida. Le Cordon Bleu Schools of North America has many locations throughout the country that offer Associate's, Bachelor's and certificate programs in baking and pastry.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Join a group like the American Society of Baking or the Bread Bakers Guild of America to network with other baking education students, employers and baking professionals.