Culinary Institute of America Reviews

"Upon visiting the campus for the first time, I was blown away. Buildings with stunning architecture, amazing kitchens, and beautiful classrooms. Upon leaving, I was so excited, thinking, "Wow, I could totally see myself going here." My admissions advisor and financial aid advisor helped me determine whether this school was right for me. When I first spoke with a financial advisor, I explained to them that I was in the process of earning my Associate of Arts Degree in General Studies, meaning I could transfer credits for general education courses, such as Math, English, Communication, Nutrition, and Psychology. I was told that they would accept my transfer credits, but they were unable to reward me for doing so because I would be paying for the entire program rather than individual classes. While that felt unreasonable, I brushed it off as it wouldn't have made much of a difference anyway and decided to bite the bullet and retake those classes since I was going to be paying for them anyway. At the time, $37,000 was the tuition price given to me, which seemed reasonable at the time because it was consistent with what I found online. After a few months, I enrolled and paid the $400 seat deposit. Upon reviewing the enrollment agreement, I discovered that the entire program would cost around $89,320. Having been told it would cost half the price by a financial advisor, this was quite a shock. My enrollment was put on hold for a period of time while I gathered more information myself; bear in mind that it was roughly 24 hours after I had submitted my seat deposit. I found a video about the tuition prices posted by a previous student after seeing nothing but $37,000. According to them, after fees and housing, they were paying up to $45,000 a semester at the Hyde Park campus. My heart sank. In spite of multiple scholarships and grants, and even with the amount of money I had saved for my education, I would be left close to $60,000 in dept. As a result, I canceled my enrollment immediately and requested a refund of my seat deposit. It had now been two days since I had enrolled; my deposit hadn't even cleared my bank account. Within a few days, I received an email from my admissions counselor informing me that the seat deposit was non-refundable. Obviously I was confused, this was the first time I had been notified about that, so I requested to speak with financial. Being such a quick turnaround, I thought they could make an exception since they received my seat deposit within 12 hours. I spoke with both the department head and the financial department at this multimillion dollar school, asking them to simply refund my deposit. Despite my cancellation of enrollment, they waited until they received my deposit and proceeded to refuse to refund me. It's not like $400 is nothing, so I was quite frustrated and disappointed. Taking this story as a lesson, please double check the tuition price of the school you are going to and do not trust any school that requires a nonrefundable seat deposit. Scams like these are everywhere."

"Ok so I do not recommend coming here this school does not care about their students. The educators do but the administration just looks at you as a walking dollar sign. And none of the departments communicate with each other. I have a binder of printed emails and other various things always with me. Since they do not communicate with each other if you do not have proof of what the other administrator said they give you no slack. The school needs to realize that they need change their system! So to anyone who is thinking about going here know that you have to back up everything that is said to you. Because they will be belligerent towards you if you can't prove them wrong. Do not think for a minute that administration is working with you ! They will only work with you if your check clears ! It's sad I was planning on doing my bachelors degree here... not anymore. I just want a piece of paper from here."

"The CIA is the pedigree of culinary schools, providing an extraordinary experience from the initial fundamentals classes to the restaurant classes in your final term. There was never a moment where I regretted attending the CIA. It has not only cultured me for the vast industry I will be thrusted into upon graduation. There are unique classes such as the intensive wines studies course not only elevating our understanding of wine but introducing possibilities in the FOH otherwise unaware to me. The networking opportunities here are immense and anyone would be foolish not to take advantage of that. I attended this school to learn how to be an excellent chef and leader, now I desire to be an outstanding hospitality professional representing the CIA and influencing this industry I've chosen."

"It is a great school for those who are looking for a well-rounded degree program in Culinary arts. I think that school could do a much better job at helping their students with financial aid by offering more grants and scholarships and less loans."