Santa Rosa Junior College builds its baking certificate around a working retail bakery. After an introductory baking course, students take two 4-unit production courses in which they rotate through the stations of the student-run bakery at the B. Robert Burdo Culinary Arts Center, making breads, pastries, cakes, and confections for sale to the public.
SRJC offers one baking credential, the 19-unit Culinary Arts: Baking and Pastry Certificate of Achievement. Culinary classes are scheduled in 8-week blocks, with two blocks in each fall and spring semester, and the college’s recommended sequence spreads the eight required courses over three semesters.
Quick Facts
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| School | Santa Rosa Junior College (Sonoma County Junior College District) |
| Location | Santa Rosa, California; B. Robert Burdo Culinary Arts Center, 1670 Mendocino Avenue, across the street from the Santa Rosa Campus |
| Credential | Culinary Arts: Baking and Pastry Certificate of Achievement |
| Units | 19 units in eight required courses |
| Format | Campus-based lecture and kitchen lab in 8-week blocks |
| Length | Three semesters in the recommended sequence; no minimum or maximum time, and many students attend part-time |
| Grade rule | C or better in every required course |
Baking and Pastry Program Options
The Culinary Arts department lists three certificates and one associate degree on its certificates and majors page. Only one of them is a baking credential. The other two certificates cover culinary arts and restaurant operations, and the degree is a combined Culinary Arts and Restaurant Operations major.
Culinary Arts: Baking and Pastry Certificate of Achievement
The Baking and Pastry program of study, effective Summer 2025, requires 19 units. SRJC describes it as an intensive program covering bread work, cakes, pastries and desserts, chocolate, confections, custards, and frozen desserts, along with bakeshop management and retail bakery operations.
The recommended course sequence puts 8 units in the first semester, 9 in the second, and 2 in the third. Introduction to Culinary Arts must come first, since it is the prerequisite for the rest of the department’s courses. The program of study asks new students to contact the department chair before enrolling for help with scheduling the 8-week blocks.
Continuing Into Other Culinary Credentials
According to the department’s FAQ, most students pursue more than one credential, and several courses overlap between certificates. Introduction to Culinary Arts is required for every certificate and the degree but only has to be passed once. Students who want general education alongside kitchen training can look at the Culinary Arts and Restaurant Operations A.A., which is not a baking degree.
Curriculum and Baking Courses
Three baking labs account for 11.5 of the 19 units. The eight required courses are:
- Introduction to Culinary Arts (1.5 units): sanitation rules, food handling and storage, workplace safety, and kitchen professionalism
- Culinary Fundamentals 1 (3 units): knife skills, cooking techniques, salads, food preservation, and dessert sauces for the pantry station
- Introduction to Baking and Pastry (3.5 units): ingredient function, measuring, formulas, and conversions, with breads, cakes, laminated doughs, choux pastry, pies, tarts, and quick breads
- Production Baking (4 units): yeast breads, laminated doughs, pies, tarts, and galettes made in production quantities for retail sale
- Specialty Production Baking (4 units): breakfast pastries, cookies, candies, confections, and cakes for the retail bakery
- Professional Plate Presentation (1 unit): plating tools and techniques for restaurant service and food photography
- Purchasing and Bakeshop Management (1 unit): labor, equipment, purchasing, receiving, and inventory control, using the college bakery for menu planning and cost analysis
- Careers in the Food and Beverage Industry (1 unit): career planning and research into roles across the field
Introduction to Baking and Pastry is the prerequisite for both production courses, for plate presentation, and for bakeshop management. The course outlines show how lab-heavy the sequence is: the introductory course carries 87.5 lab hours, and each production course carries 122.5. The outlines also include coffee and espresso preparation in Production Baking.
Tuition and Additional Costs
SRJC’s Fall 2026 fee schedule lists an enrollment fee of $46 per unit. Non-residents also pay $409 per unit in tuition and a $2 per unit capital outlay fee, or $457 per unit in all. Other charges are a $28 health fee and a $2 student representation fee each semester, a transportation fee of $1 per unit up to $10 a semester, and a student center fee of $1 per unit up to $10 a year.
| Program | Credits | Estimated in-state tuition and fees | Estimated out-of-state tuition and fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baking and Pastry Certificate of Achievement (three semesters) | 19 | $995 | $8,804 |
The estimate multiplies 19 units by the per-unit rate ($874 for residents) and adds $121 in fees across the recommended three semesters of 8, 9, and 2 units, assuming a fall start. It is a figure before financial aid and leaves out the optional $15 CubCard Premium, parking ($60 a semester), books, uniforms, knives, and living costs.
Program supplies are a separate cost. The department’s FAQ puts the full Baking and Pastry Certificate at an estimated $2,438 for in-state students once books, uniform, and supplies are included. A uniform is required in every culinary lab, and instructors announce the specific uniform, knife kit, and textbook requirements before the first week. Some courses also carry instructional materials fees, which appear in the Schedule of Classes.
Admissions and Financial Aid
No cooking or work experience is needed, and the department says the curriculum is designed for novices as well as experienced cooks. New credit students apply online through CCCApply, complete the college’s identity verification step, and receive a student ID by email. Registration happens in the student portal. Classes often fill quickly for new students; once enrolled in the program, students get priority registration for later semesters.
SRJC’s financial aid office states that the California College Promise Grant waives the $46 per unit enrollment fee and half the parking permit cost for eligible California residents. It does not remove the health fee, supplies, or uniform costs. The college does not say on its culinary pages whether the 19-unit certificate qualifies for federal Pell Grants, so confirm that before counting on it.
Career Preparation and Transfer Considerations
SRJC says graduates are prepared for entry-level work as bread bakers, pastry cooks, cake decorators, or confectioners. The department is direct about what that means: it trains for entry-level jobs, and becoming a chef takes time working up through the industry. Employers send openings to the department’s Culinary Career Center, which shares them with students on a job board.
The Burdo center is a 22,000-square-foot facility that houses a retail bakery and a café open to the public on a limited schedule during the semester. On the transfer side, the baking course outlines classify the courses as associate degree applicable and show no CSU or UC transfer listing. Students planning a bachelor’s degree should meet with a counselor.
Who May Find This Certificate a Good Fit?
| Student goal | How the program may fit |
|---|---|
| Practice in a real retail setting | Two production courses run inside the student-run bakery that sells to the public |
| Keep a job while studying | Courses run in 8-week blocks, part-time attendance is common, and there is no time limit |
| Start with no kitchen background | The first semester covers sanitation, basic cooking, and introductory baking |
| Add a second culinary credential | Several courses overlap with the Culinary Arts and Restaurant Operations certificates |
Questions to Ask Before Applying
- Which 8-week blocks will offer Production Baking and Specialty Production Baking this year, and on which days?
- What do the uniform, knife kit, and textbooks cost, and which courses carry materials fees?
- Is the certificate eligible for Pell Grants and other federal aid?
- Which baking courses also count toward the Culinary Arts Certificate or the A.A.?
- Does the program hold American Culinary Federation accreditation? The department pages do not name a programmatic accreditor.
Program details and costs can change. Confirm current requirements with Santa Rosa Junior College before applying.