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Top Five Reasons Why You Should Choose the CIA

1. Benefit from our reputation as the world's premier culinary college
2. Get a great CIA education
3. Have a rich college experience
4. Gain the best opportunity for career success
5. Join our famous CIA alumni network

1. The World's Premier Culinary College
Our mission is to give our students the world's best culinary education—in both the culinary arts and the baking & pastry arts.

• Founded in 1946, the CIA was the first culinary college, and we set the standard for excellence in culinary education.
• The CIA has an outstanding reputation in the food world. We are recognized and respected as the leader in culinary education.
• A CIA degree is a prized passport into the world of food professions. Our graduates become leading chefs and restaurant owners, food and beverage managers, foodservice entrepreneurs and executives, media personalities, research chefs, and more.

2. A Great CIA Education
As an independent, not-for-profit educational organization, the CIA uses its resources to deliver on our core mission—providing the best professional culinary education to thousands of students each year in our degree programs.

• As the first culinary college, we literally wrote the book—The Professional Chef—and created the curriculum that gives you the knowledge you need to succeed.
• We have the largest faculty of teaching chefs and certified hospitality educators on one campus—with more than 140 chefs and instructors from 16 countries at our main campus in Hyde Park, NY. The faculty on all CIA campuses are dedicated teachers whose industry credentials and experience are unmatched in culinary education.
• Our unique degree programs help you learn in proven stages. You advance from skills kitchens, to meal preparation kitchens, to our award-winning on-campus public restaurants. And you learn about foods, cooking techniques, and cuisines—all in the right sequence to help build your knowledge and skills.
• At the CIA, we believe in "learning by doing." No matter which degree program you choose, your CIA education will give you an extraordinary amount of hands-on learning—more than 1,300 hours in our kitchens and bakeshops.
• Today, chefs are managers, entrepreneurs, creative artists, media personalities, and educators; they need to do much more than just cook well. Our bachelor's programs include management and liberal arts courses that prepare you for future leadership. CIA bachelor's degree students learn about restaurant management, finance, marketing, world cultures, and more.
• All our programs are backed by the CIA's world-class facilities—outstanding teaching kitchens, sophisticated restaurants, computer labs, and the resources of the Conrad N. Hilton Library.
• The newest CIA campuses in San Antonio and Singapore are enhancing the college's cuisine research and deepening CIA leadership in the rising Latin American and Asian cuisines.

Your college choice is important. Many other culinary schools are for-profit businesses, and some large ones are owned by major corporations. Tuition paid to for-profit schools covers both their business costs and the profits they must deliver to shareholders. Their costs may include heavy advertising and recruiting expenses, and they may spend 20% or more of tuition dollars on these marketing expenses. So, a significant percentage of your tuition dollars will not contribute to your educational experience. As a not-for-profit culinary college, the CIA ensures that your tuition dollars stay focused on our mission—to give you the best professional culinary education.

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3. A Rich College Experience
All kinds of people come to the CIA—some right out of high school, some from the work force or the military, and others from different colleges. Our shared passion—food—immediately connects you to other students and faculty in our welcoming CIA community.

• As a student at the CIA in Hyde Park, you'll experience a more traditional college environment, including modern housing in a variety of styles, a recreation center, sports, clubs, and year-round student events. From Hyde Park, you can enjoy recreation in the famous Hudson Valley region, and take advantage of our easy access to New York City for entertainment, top restaurants, and new cultural experiences.
• As a student at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, you'll enter a close-knit campus community. Set in the Napa Valley, the CIA at Greystone offers an exceptionally rich food and wine experience, enhanced by the conferences, research projects, and education programs going on there. And at Greystone, you're a short ride away from San Francisco, world-class vineyards, and much more in this renowned region.
• As a student at the CIA San Antonio, you'll join a community rich with culinary heritage and vibrant flavors. The CIA San Antonio is not a "traditional" college campus, but is rather a unique education and research center. Located on the historic Pearl Brewery site, it's host to amazing industry conferences and home of the exciting Center for Foods of the Americas.

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4. Best Opportunity For Career Success
Leading companies in the food world look to the CIA degree as a valued credential when they're hiring. And the college maintains an exclusive online database of employers, averaging 2,000 job opportunities at both national and international businesses for student job searches.

• Your industry exposure starts with your externship at a leading foodservice establishment, between your first and second years. There are 1,200-plus CIA externship sites to choose from, including Aureole in New York, the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida, Restaurant August in New Orleans, The Lodge at Pebble Beach in California, Roy's Restaurant in Honolulu, the Four Seasons Hotel in Costa Rica, and the American Club in Hong Kong.
• All CIA students have direct access to the many job opportunities in the college's online job database when they search for permanent postions.
• Students also have the opportunity to interview for permanent positions with top employers right on campus. And at Hyde Park, employers representing the best in restaurant, hotel, resort, club, and corporate chain operators come to campus quarterly for CIA Career Fairs.
• Your success is only just beginning with your first job. Our graduate surveys show CIA graduates have strong career and salary growth as they advance to chef, management and ownership positions (CIA 2008 Associate and Bachelor's Degree Alumni Surveys).

5. Famous CIA Alumni Network
Today, the CIA has over 40,000 alumni. They are an accomplished, supportive network throughout the industry, whatever your career goals.

• Our graduates advance in the kitchen to become sous chefs, executive chefs, and chef/owners.
• They advance outside the kitchen to become restaurateurs and business owners, food and beverage managers, and restaurant and hotel chain executives.
• They also lead as media personalities and food writers, research chefs, and culinary educators

Our list of celebrated alumni is as diverse as it is extensive—including Grant Achatz, John Besh, Cat Cora, Johnny Iuzzini, Melissa Kelly, Charlie Palmer, Michael Symon, Roy Yamaguchi, and Sherry Yard, to name just a few. They've found success doing what they love. They embraced the idea that Food is Life. Now, it's your turn. Inquire today!

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