Culinary Arts
Two-year Culinary Arts Associate’s Degree:
Your pathway to a career in the culinary arts industry.
Gallatin College’s Culinary Arts teaches students relevant coursework and offers experiential education in the Culinary Arts profession. This program prepares students for a variety of careers spanning from small restaurants to large foodservice facilities.
About the degree:
Gallatin College’s Culinary Arts Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree is a 65-credit offering. The coursework is a traditional culinary arts coursework alongside unique offerings that are well aligned with Montana’s food culture and strong tourism industry. This degree will lead to a variety of culinary and food service positions in our local food services industry.
Graduates are prepared to:
Develop a passion for cooking, serving others, and genuine hospitality.
- Demonstrate the skills needed as a cook, Chef de Partie, Sous Chef, Executive Chef, or Pastry Chef.
- Take an entrepreneurial path to owning an independent restaurant, bake shop, food truck, or catering business.
- Join the American Culinary Federation as a Certified Culinarian.
- Transfer into Montana State University’s Hospitality Management Bachelor’s degree program.
- Work within the food service industry anywhere in the world in restaurants, hotels, lodges, breweries, food trucks, country clubs, cruise ships, institutions, assisted living facilities, catering companies, or in food manufacturing.
What sets this program apart?
- Small classes with a low student to chef ratio & hands-on instruction
- Convenient location in Hannon Hall on the Montana State University campus
- A strong connection with the local tourism and food services industries for internship and job placement
- Affordable tuition $7,126 in state tuition, $27,165 out of state for the two-year program.
- Experienced faculty with decades of experience in the industry
Program Director, Chef Mike Dean
Culinary Arts Program Director, Chef Mike Dean, is a 20+ year Certified Executive Chef with the American Culinary Federation and the presidentof the Greater Yellowstone Chapter of the ACF after serving a3-year term on the ACF National Apprenticeship Committee.
His previous 35-year career with Xanterra Parks and Resorts in Yellowstone National Park, includes 18 years as Executive Sous Chef and six years as Executive Chef. He is an expert in writing menus and recipes, purchase specs, training programs, kitchen renovations, oversight of millions of meals annually, inventory control and management, and management of nine Location Chefs and 24 Sous Chefs.
From a 2-year Culinary Arts degree to a 4-year Bachelors in Hospitality Management:
This degree has several introductory level courses in common with MSU’s College of Education, Health, and Human Development’s Hospitality Management Bachelor’s. Students completing an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts might choose to continue their education to complete the Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management. http://www.montana.edu/hhd/undergrad/hospitality/index.html
Important: This program has limited openings and has been at full capacity in recent years, please apply early and contact Gallatin College for further information if interested.
