East Mississippi Community College teaches baking at Lion Hills Center in Columbus, the college’s golf club and event venue with a full commercial kitchen, rather than at its Scooba or Golden Triangle campuses. The 2026–27 catalog lists one baking credential there: the Baking and Pastry Arts One Year Certificate, a 30-credit career certificate laid out over two semesters.
The first semester is shared with the college’s Culinary Arts Technology program, and the second is almost entirely pastry labs in cookies and frozen desserts, artisan breads, and classic pastry. Details below come from the 2026–27 College Catalog and EMCC’s 2026–27 tuition and fees schedule.
Quick Facts
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| School | East Mississippi Community College |
| Location | Lion Hills Center, 2331 Military Road, Columbus, Mississippi |
| Credential | Baking and Pastry Arts One Year Certificate (career certificate) |
| Total credits | 30 semester hours |
| Catalog sequence | Two semesters of 15 hours each |
| Program fee | $250 per semester |
| Industry certification | ServSafe Sanitation eligibility after Sanitation and Safety |
Baking and Pastry Program Options
EMCC describes the certificate on its Baking and Pastry Arts program page. It is the only baking-titled credential in the catalog. There is no baking technical certificate or associate degree, so students who want a longer credential continue into Culinary Arts Technology.
Baking and Pastry Arts One Year Certificate
The Baking and Pastry Arts One Year Certificate awards a career certificate after 30 semester hours. The catalog describes a foundation in the methods and science of baking, covering breads, cakes, confections, and frozen desserts, with emphasis on baking and pastry tools, equipment, techniques, and specialty ingredients.
Continuing Into Culinary Arts Technology
The Culinary Arts Technology AAS is also taught at Lion Hills and runs four semesters. Its first semester lists Culinary Principles I, Principles of Baking, Introduction to Culinary Arts, and Sanitation and Safety, the same four courses that open the baking certificate, and Menu Planning and Facilities Design appears in both plans. An advisor should confirm how the remaining baking credits would apply.
Curriculum and Baking Courses
The 2026–27 catalog lists nine courses across two semesters:
- Introduction to Culinary Arts (3 credits) and Sanitation and Safety (3 credits)
- Culinary Principles I (4 credits)
- Principles of Baking (4 credits)
- Supervised Work Experience in Baking and Pastry Arts (1 credit, based on 45 industry contact hours)
- Cookies, Mignardise, and Frozen Desserts (4 credits): cookies, biscotti, petits fours, ice creams, and sorbets
- Artisan Breads and Viennoiserie (4 credits): laminated doughs, yeast breads, quick breads, and baker’s percentage
- Classic Pastry, Pies and Tarts (4 credits): pies, puff pastry, pate a choux, custards, creams, and plate design
- Menu Planning and Facilities Design (3 credits)
Each of the three second-semester pastry courses is listed at one lecture hour and six lab hours a week. EMCC’s program page shows a slightly different plan of 31 hours that adds a second one-credit work experience course, while the catalog totals 30. Ask the program which version applies to your entry term.
Tuition and Additional Costs
EMCC’s 2026–27 tuition and fees schedule charges Mississippi residents a flat $1,900 per semester for 15–19 credit hours, or $165 per credit hour below 15. Out-of-state students pay a total of $3,400 per semester at 15–19 hours plus a $350 out-of-state processing fee. Every student also pays a $130 registration fee, a capital improvements and technology fee of $11 per credit hour, and a $35 health fee.
At 15 hours, one semester of tuition and mandatory fees comes to $2,230 for a Mississippi resident and $4,080 for an out-of-state student. Using the catalog’s two-semester plan:
| Program | Credits | Estimated in-state tuition and fees | Estimated out-of-state tuition and fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baking and Pastry Arts One Year Certificate (2 semesters) | 30 | $4,460 | $8,160 |
These totals cover tuition, registration, the per-credit capital improvements and technology fee, the health fee, and the out-of-state processing fee where it applies. They do not include the program fee: the schedule lists a $250 per semester program fee for Baking and Pastry Arts at Lion Hills, which adds $500 over the two semesters. They also leave out the $50 JourneyEAST orientation fee charged to first-time, full-time students, the $35 parking decal, the $50 commencement participation fee, textbooks and eBooks, and any per-course fees.
The schedule also lists a $180 food service declining balance fee for Golden Triangle and Communiversity commuter students with 12 or more on-campus hours. It does not say whether Lion Hills students are charged it, so confirm with the Business Office. Part-time students pay the per-credit rate and repeat the flat fees in each added semester. EMCC does not publish uniform or tool costs for the program.
Admissions and Financial Aid
The catalog lists no separate program application. Interested students submit EMCC’s electronic application, which the college says is free, along with a high school transcript or high school equivalency and an ACT score report or a comparable alternative. The college uses the ACT or Accuplacer for placement, and new students attend JourneyEAST orientation. The program page does not state entry terms, so ask whether the first-semester courses are offered in spring as well as fall.
EMCC does not state financial aid eligibility credential by credential. Students planning to use a Pell Grant or state aid for the certificate should file the FAFSA and confirm with the Financial Aid Office.
Career Preparation and Transfer Considerations
EMCC says the course of study is designed to train bakers and pastry chefs and names chocolatiers, artisan bakers, cake designers and decorators, and restaurant pastry chefs as related niches. After Sanitation and Safety, students are eligible for ServSafe Sanitation certification from the National Restaurant Association. Neither the catalog nor the program page states American Culinary Federation accreditation for the certificate.
Lion Hills also operates a restaurant and catering service. The college does not describe how baking students take part, so ask where the supervised work experience hours are usually completed. A career certificate is built for employment, and the catalog names no university transfer agreement for it.
Who May Find This Certificate a Good Fit?
| Student goal | How the program may fit |
|---|---|
| Finish baking training in one school year | The catalog plan is 30 hours in two full-time semesters |
| Spend most lab time on pastry | Three of the four second-semester courses are four-credit pastry and bread labs |
| Train in the Columbus area | Courses are listed at Lion Hills Center, not the Scooba or Golden Triangle campuses |
| Keep a culinary degree open | The first semester matches the opening semester of the Culinary Arts Technology AAS |
Questions to Ask Before Applying
- Is the certificate 30 hours, as the catalog shows, or 31 hours, as the program page shows?
- Can I start in spring, and are the pastry labs offered every semester?
- What uniform, knives, and tools are required, and what do they cost?
- Does the $180 food service declining balance fee apply to Lion Hills students?
- Which baking credits would count toward the Culinary Arts Technology AAS?
Program details and costs can change. Confirm current requirements with East Mississippi Community College before applying.