Scottsdale Community College is known as a great art school. There are plenty of different forms that art can take. At SCC there is a culinary school, and some people may find this surprising since the culinary program is located in the back of the school. The culinary arts school is an option for anyone that is even partially interested in cooking fine food.

With five available Associate’s Degrees, such as an AAS in Culinary Fundamentals or an AAS in Advanced Professional Culinary Arts, not only is the culinary school cost-friendly but students get a chance to be creative with food.

Cosette Curtis, a current culinary student, talked about how students have the ability to be creative.

“A lot of the stuff is to the books,” Curtis said. “So we’ll get a recipe for something like on our menu that’s already set in stone. But we can work with it a little bit and make it our own. So for the house salad, it changes every single day. So that way you have a chance to come up with whatever you want to do. You don’t have to make a standard lettuce and tomato salad, you can make potato salad, can make a pasta salad, it just depends on what you want to do.”

Along with students having creative freedom, Tracy Bowers, the Administrative Assistant for the Culinary Arts, explained why SCC is a choice for many students.

“The cost is a big thing because other culinary schools typically cost between $25,000 to $40,000 dollars for their programs,” Bowers said. “Ours is about $5,000.”

Other culinary programs offered in Arizona include the Art Institute of Phoenix and the Arizona Culinary Institute. The Arizona Culinary Institute program costs $27,795, while AI of Phoenix costs $46,835. The SCC culinary school’s cost is $5,344, according to the culinary art program packet.

There is a sense of urgency in the culinary art program, as it is a fast-paced environment. Joseph Hills, SCC’s Dining Room Operations Instructor, expanded on the array of choices that students have in this busy environment.

“You have plenty of different options to move around [in the industry],” Hills said. “Yes, it’s very stressful and definitely not for everyone. But for some of us, we love it. We thrive off it.”