Where your passion for food can truly flourish

Food has an extraordinary ability to unite us, whether it's a family gathering around the dinner table or friends sharing a meal at a local café. Yet, it also holds the unique ability to fulfil individual passions centred around experimenting with flavours and crafting well-rounded dishes. At the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), this appreciation for food can become your life’s work.

Enrolling at the world's premier culinary college means experiencing a first-class education in an immersive college environment. The journey can prepare you for a future filled with flavour, creativity, and endless opportunities.

You’ll train under culinary legends — master chefs with decades of expertise, award-winning restaurateurs, top food industry execs, and master sommeliers. In live-action classrooms, you’ll sharpen your skills in real-time, before stepping into CIA’s own award-winning restaurants and food businesses across three campuses (New York, California, and Texas) to serve actual customers.

While feeling the rush of a bustling kitchen and the thrill of satisfying a packed dining room, you’ll most likely identify a major that intrigues you the most. Whether you choose to specialise in Baking and Pastry Arts, Culinary Arts, Culinary Science, Food Business, Food Studies and Sustainability, or Hospitality Management, you will be equipped with important and useful skills to take your culinary expertise to the next level.

To boost your chances of getting a job at top eateries, CIA holds a career fair three times a year dedicated to students and alumni. At these events, you’ll connect with more than 150 food, beverage, and hospitality employers eager to hire interns and soon-to-be graduates.

This is your chance to ask questions, showcase your skills, and forge valuable networking connections.

Many students secure on-the-spot job placements and internship interviews at the career fair, contributing to the impressive statistic that graduates average three job offers upon finishing their studies. The Culinary Connect, an online job portal for students and alumni, further streamlines your career journey by highlighting apt job opportunities and ensuring you remain on employers' radar as you advance your culinary career.

Preparing students to lead and innovate in one of the most exciting industries on earth

When the time comes, the Centre for Career and Academic Advising will ensure you put your best foot forward. Their duties revolve around enhancing your résumé, improving your interviewing skills, exploring internship and job opportunities, and planning a course schedule aligned with your career goals.

“I love recruiting at CIA because we get students that have experienced real-life work situations in their classrooms. They’re prepared. They’re professional — and they look forward to growing base success,” says Mellissa Termyna, Director of People & Culture at Gurney’s Resorts.

Graduates who have built careers around what they love most

Graduates who have built careers around what they love most

Graduates who have built careers around what they love most

Graduates who have built careers around what they love most

​​An enriching education awaits at The Culinary Institute of America.