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Burnt Chefs

Continued from page 4

Published on June 06, 2007

The school had immediate cachet: Both James Beard and M.F.K. Fisher, two demigods of American cuisine, spoke at the first graduation ceremony. Back then, CCA had stricter admission standards that required applicants to have some experience in the restaurant industry — so they knew what they were getting into. The school grew steadily until the late '90s, when it embarked on an ambitious expansion plan. It created three satellite campuses in California to teach basic cooking skills, and also bought property in New Orleans, planning to spend $18 million on a large campus there.

But it soon became clear that the school had bitten off more than it could chew. By 1999 the school was in default on its San Francisco tax payments, and the annual report warned investors that bankruptcy was a looming possibility. A group of unhappy shareholders called a halt to the school's expansion schemes, and started talking profits. They brought in Career Education Corporation, a young but rapidly expanding company in the for-profit education business.

Career Education was a favorite of Wall Street investors. In 1995 it had revenues of about $19 million; by 1999 revenues were up to about $217 million, according to annual reports. It grew through a decade-long buying spree, snapping up small or struggling schools and rapidly expanding their programs and enrollment. CCA was a typical acquisition. Career Education had already bought six culinary schools, and considered them a profitable and growing sector.

The corporation paid about $31 million for CCA, then quickly nixed the New Orleans deal and shut down the satellite campuses. It steered a course toward the high end: The company had already secured a deal with Le Cordon Bleu, the elite Parisian cooking school, which allows CEC to use the name to boost its brand at all its culinary schools. In 2006 alone, the company paid royalties of $14.4 million for that privilege.

In essence, the company was buying its credentials, claims Emily, the former admissions representative. "CEC bought the Culinary Academy, and the Culinary Academy had a really good reputation," she says. "They bought the rubber stamp of Le Cordon Bleu. They put those two together, and they just marketed them like wild."

The company now owns 16 culinary schools around the country, but CCA, with its 30-year history, is its crown jewel. Some former professors say the purchase benefited the school, because it brought an influx of capital that allowed the school to upgrade the kitchens and facilities. Some also say that the formerly independent school was disorganized, and that the corporate takeover helped students by introducing a standardized curriculum.

But the school changed in other ways as well. In 2003 it launched an 11-month program of hospitality and restaurant management. The culinary program, which had previously offered day and evening class schedules with seven hours of instruction each, switched to a schedule of three shorter classes each day. Career Education leased an empty building in Potrero Hill in anticipation of the influx of new students. Yet in 2005 the school laid off 23 associate chefs, who students said helped the chef instructors provide one-on-one instruction in the crowded kitchens.

Meanwhile, tuition and fees sneaked upward for all three programs that the school offers: the culinary arts and the restaurant management degree programs, and a baking and pastry certificate program. The culinary program's rise in total price was most dramatic: It went from about $36,000 in 2002 to a high of $48,251 earlier this year. The price just dropped about $1,000, but only because the school is eliminating its student dining facilities.

CCA isn't the only game in town. The City College of San Francisco offers a two-year culinary program that has students in school for eight hours a day, five days a week. At that program's end, the students have earned an Associate in Science degree, which means if they transfer to a four-year university, they're halfway through. In contrast, CCA awards students an Associate's Degree in Occupational Studies, the same degree that massage therapists get. The credits earned at CCA can't be transferred to any other institution.

Edward Hamilton, head of the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Studies department at City College, is proud that his program has a reputation for turning out work-ready students. And while he says that CCA also produces "reputable and qualified" students, he doesn't think they're any better than his. "Our students and their students compete for the same jobs," he says.

The total price for the two-year program at City College, including tools and uniforms? About $2,200.

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