WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Pennsylvania College of Technology is set to provide a quicker pathway to a baking and pastry arts career through a new 12-month certificate in professional baking and a revision to its associate degree in baking and pastry arts that will make a degree obtainable in 16 months.
Allowing students to enter the workforce more quickly helps to meet the needs of the hospitality industry, where there is a high demand for skilled baking and pastry arts professionals, and of students, who will incur a lower financial cost.
Both majors provide a robust yet compact education with extensive hands-on learning. Curriculum has been updated to meet industry needs, helping to ensure students will land jobs.
Both the one-year certificate and the three-semester associate degree provide a core of foundational baking courses, while the associate degree — which formerly encompassed four semesters of study — provides advanced coursework in the pastry arts, as well as facilities planning, bakery operations, retail operations and more.
The majors will incorporate focused eight-week courses and a summer internship. Lab hours for students pursuing the associate degree will remain essentially the same as they had under the former, two-year format, but with greater attention to fewer courses at a time.
Students in both programs will continue to receive comprehensive theory in the art and science of baking production, learn in state-of-the art facilities, and be eligible for unique Penn College experiences that include practicing skills in Le Jeune Chef, an on-campus, fine-dining restaurant that is open to the public; interning at the Kentucky Derby; and providing demonstrations at the Philadelphia National Candy Show.
The 16-month, three-semester baking and pastry arts associate degree will launch in Fall 2019. Students can begin enrolling in the 12-month professional baking certificate in Fall 2020. Graduates of either major can continue their studies toward a bachelor’s degree in applied management.
The college also offers associate and bachelor’s degrees in culinary arts, and in Fall 2020, will offer a bachelor’s degree in business administration: restaurant and hospitality operations. To learn more, call 570-327-4505 or visit www.pct.edu/bh.
For information about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.