Employers have asked us for alternative ways to reach students. One option is to sponsor an ad in our newsletter which reaches approximately 10,000 people who have expressed an interest in the culinary arts. The placement fee for an ad in our newsletter is $200.
Many students struggle to finance their education, and since we are a private school that isn’t funded by Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA), potential students are seeking alternative ways to finance their training. We have a demographic that wants to learn, and is passionate about the industry. In addition, many of our potential students hope to one day run or own their own establishments. This means that on the job they are more likely to be reliable, perform well, and see the big picture. What they need is the cash to start their training.
Employers that are interested in sponsoring training for future employees can offer assistance in two ways: scholarships and tuition advances.
For example, an employer might offer a $1,000 scholarship plus a tuition advance (loan) against future earnings to cover an additional $4,000. Our courses are shorter and more affordable than many two-year colleges and so this level of investment would enable many students interested to attend school. Our training is just 5 to 8 weeks long. Convenient schedules are available to work part time while attending school. For example, our morning classes meet from 9am to 1pm Monday through Friday allowing students to be available to work nearby by 2pm. Our evening classes meet from 6pm to 10pm Monday through Wednesday allowing students to work nearby as late as 5pm, and on evenings the other days of the week. New training cohorts start every month.
This course teaches how to handle a knife, professional knife cuts, how to make restaurant style sauces, how to break down a chicken and fillet a fish, different methods to cook meat, poultry and seafood, how to make sides and how to plate professionally.
Tuition includes a set of 4 knives, carrying bag, digital scale, digital thermometer, other equipment and a Chef Uniform that students can keep for their career.
This course teaching how to make a variety of doughs, creams and mousses, tarts and quiche, croissants, pate a choux and Eclairs, French Macarons and more. We introduce cake decorating and how to temper and work with chocolate.
Tuition includes a set of 3 knives, carrying bag, digital scale, digital thermometer, piping tips for cake decorating, other equipment and a Chef Uniform that students can keep for their career
Monday-Friday 9am-1pm
20 hours per week x 5 weeks
Monday-Friday 1:30pm-5:30pm
20 hours per week x 5 weeks
Monday-Wednesday 6pm-10pm
12 hours per week x 8 weeks
*New cohorts start nearly every month
We recommend that students pay some of their tuition to have some “skin in the game.” When students are struggling to pay for school, they can usually come up with about $500-$800. If an employer interested in a line cook wanted to sponsor a student to do the Cuisine training, this is a sample structure:
The tuition advance is an interest-free loan against future earnings. At today’s market wages, this loan can be paid back in three to six months.
Employers interested in this arrangement would have their legal counsel draft the contract with the new employee to ensure that their investment gets repaid. They are also advised to discuss the arrangement with their tax advisor as the tuition reimbursement may be subject to payroll or other taxes.
The choice of how much to sponsor as a scholarship vs. tuition assistance will determine how attractive your offer is to potential students. Our Director will work with you to structure your offers. Our Admissions team will work with you to identify potential hires and brief you on any relevant experience. You will be able to meet with each hire over Zoom to determine whether or not they are a good fit. You will also be asked to sign a contract agreeing not to hire that person for a period of one year after the introduction if you choose not to sponsor them for tuition assistance.
Once you have selected the candidates you would like to sponsor, your legal team would arrange the paperwork with the future employee. Our school will bill you for the combined amount of scholarship and tuition advance. This must be paid in full before the student starts school or work. You can arrange with the student when you would like them to start work, which can be before, during or after training. As our courses meet 12-20 hours a week, most employers are interested in having the students start immediately and work part time while in school. We ask that employers that do this honor the student’s commitment to their training and not schedule any shifts during class time. At the end of the day, the students are paying for a majority of their tuition and so it’s important that their ability to attend class on schedule is respected by the employer. We take this very seriously and will not work with any employers who breach this agreement. In other words, no matter how busy you get, under no circumstances should you be calling a student to report to work if they are scheduled to be at school during that time. No exceptions.
Laurie Moldawer
Director
Park City Culinary Institute
laurie@pcculinary.com