Culinary Arts and Science

Major: Culinary Arts & Science
Degree Awarded: Bachelor of Science (BS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 185.0 (Food and Beverage Management Concentration); 185.0 (Culinary Science Concentration)
Co-op Options: No Co-op (Four years); One Co-op (Four years)
Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code: 12.0509
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 35-2014

About the Program

The major in Culinary Arts and Science allows students to deeply explore cuisine—the practical techniques of cooking, but also its science, history, culture, politics, and economics. Students receive a broad overview of cooking and cuisine and specialize in food and beverage management, which prepares students for leadership positions in the restaurant and food industry.

Students majoring in Culinary Arts and Science are prepared for careers in the food industry such as pastry chef, chef, research chef, or product developer.

This baccalaureate degree in Culinary Arts and Science is among the first of its kind in the United States. This program comprises approximately equal parts liberal arts, business, hospitality management, food science, and culinary arts. The aim of the program is to prepare students as independent thinkers who can work collaboratively in the food industry.

Program Delivery Options

Drexel’s BS degrees include courses in the liberal arts, the humanities, sciences, hospitality management, and culinary arts. Three business minors are also offered. The BS degree can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis:

Traditional four-year option, with one co-op experience:

This option includes one six-month period of full-time employment in the junior year.

Four plus one option BS/MBA combined degree, with co-op experience:

This option combines the four-year BS degree followed by the one-year Professional MBA to qualify freshmen applicants. Incoming freshmen will generally have a minimum of 1300 on the SAT, a GPA of 3.5 or higher, and be in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. For MBA requirements visit the LeBow College Professional MBA website.

Part-time option without co-op experience:

Students work closely with academic advisors to develop a customized plan of study toward degree completion.

London option:

(Available for Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts and Science students.) Students are invited to spend a term in their sophomore, junior, or senior year in the Study Abroad Program, Drexel in London, while earning up to 18.0 credits. The program’s emphasis is on the global implications of and opportunities within the hospitality industry.

Degree Requirements

Writing-Intensive Course Requirements

In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.

A "WI" next to a course in this catalog may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List at the University Writing Program. Students scheduling their courses can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term.

Sample Plan of Study

Food and Beverage Concentration Plan of Study- 4 year, one co-op

Culinary Science Concentration Plan of Study- 4 year, 1 co-op

±

Students may be registered in a later term based on their co-op program (4-year or 5-year) and cycle. Select students may be eligible to replace COOP 101 with COOP 001.

*

Program electives include any CULA, FDS, or HRM courses.

**

Minor electives to be determined according to student's chosen minor under direction of advisor and program director as needed.

***

Arts & Humanities elective include courses from Westphal College, arts-related courses from Arts & Science and others as determined by advisor, examples include: AFAS, ARBC, CHIN, CW, ENGL, ESL, FREN, GER, HIST, HNRS, ITAL, JAPN, KOR, LING, WRIT, and others determined by advisor in conjunction with faculty.

†

Social sciences electives include ANTH, CCM, CHP, CJS, COM, ENSS, EOH, GST, HMP, HNRS, JWST, PBHL PHIL, PLCY, PPE, PSCI, PSY, SCTS, SOC, WGST, and others determined by advisor in conjunction with faculty.

Bakery and Pastry Specialization

The Baking and Pastry Specialization provides students interested in pursuing a career in the bakeshop with the skills necessary to move up the ranks of the professional bakery. High-quality, from-scratch baked goods and pastries continue to find prominent places on menus in fine-dining restaurants, coffee shops, cafes, and dedicated bakery retail shops. For those restaurants and shops that have the facility space, many hire skilled bakers to run internal pastry departments. The need to feature fresh-baked goods has led to the opening of more wholesale and commissary bakeries throughout the Northeast and across the country. Graduates who are highly skilled in baking and patisserie are in demand to serve in restaurant pastry programs and to run these high-volume commercial bakeries.

Program Requirements

Co-op/Career Opportunities

The hospitality industry employs 15 million people nationwide. According to the National Restaurant Association statistics, employment is growing at the rate of 11% each year, making this industry one of the fastest growing in the country. Our Culinary Arts & Science program enjoys close relationships with outstanding and internationally acclaimed chefs in the finest restaurants, hotels, and tourism partners in the greater Philadelphia area. We also have relationships with professional organizations that represent the industry on a regional, national, and international level such as Research Chefs Association, Institute of Food Technologists and International Association of Culinary Professionals. These relationships result in over $80,000 a year in scholarship funding for our students.

Typical career paths for graduates include the following:

• Restaurants and private clubs, which employ over 9 million people in the US
• Hotels and resorts with almost 2.5 million employees
• Convention, special events, meeting planning, and tourism agencies
• Food service and beverage brokers, distributors, and suppliers to the industry
• Food waste and sustainability practices and solutions
• Food product development
• Quality assurance
• Food sensory analysis
• Food technologist

Co-Op Opportunities

Drexel University has long been known for its cooperative education/internship programs, which allow students to mix periods of full-time, career-related employment with their studies. Culinary Arts & Science students pursue the six-month co-op employment. This six-month experience during the junior year is tailored to fit the interests of each student. The following hotels, facilities, restaurants, and clubs have recently offered co-op positions to Drexel’s Culinary Arts & Science students. Although many of these examples are located in the Philadelphia area, co-op jobs are not limited to any region.

• Vernick Restaurant
• High Street Hospitality Group
• Jose Garces - Garces Group
• Marc Vetri - Vetri Family of Restaurants
• Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau
• America's Test Kitchen
• Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce
• Walt Disney World Co
• Saxbys
• Campbell Soup Company
• International flavors and fragrances
• Barry Callebaut
• Blommer Chocolate
• Yards Brewery
• Colorcon
• Mafco International
• Nestle

Visit the Drexel Steinbright Career Development Center page for more detailed information on co-op and post-graduate opportunities.

Facilities

The major facility of the Culinary Arts & Science program is located on the sixth floor of the Academic Building. It is a 6,500-square-foot space that includes three state-of-the-art commercial kitchens, bakery, and laboratories, as well as the Academic Bistro, the student-run restaurant, bar, and lounge. The facility also includes a sensory analysis lab, hospitality and gaming lab, and conference room. As part of the curriculum, students in this major are required to take food safety and sanitation courses which include lab work at Papadakis Integrated Science Building.

Philadelphia Location

A unique feature of the Culinary Arts & Science program at Drexel is our location in Philadelphia with proximity to New York City, Boston, Baltimore, and Washington DC, as well as the resort centers on the Atlantic seacoast and in the Pocono Mountains. These regions include hundreds of hotels, restaurants, and resorts that are used for field trips and campus visits by hospitality resource professionals. Students also gain hands-on experience through faculty-directed field trips throughout the region.

Culinary Arts & Science Faculty

Emeritus Faculty