Louisiana has six schools with baking or pastry credentials: three community and technical colleges, one public university, and two private schools. Three are in the New Orleans area, with others in Thibodaux, Baton Rouge, and Lake Charles. Options run from a 15-credit baker certificate to a bachelor’s degree with a pâtisserie concentration.
The three community and technical colleges share the same base tuition of $138.96 per credit, and their posted schedules show no separate non-resident rate. Their baking credentials are estimated at about $3,200 to $12,900 in tuition and fees, well below the private schools and the four-year university.
Baking and Pastry Programs at a Glance
| School | Location | Programs, Credits and Estimated Costs |
|---|---|---|
| Delgado Community College | New Orleans | Pastry Arts C.T.S.: 24 credits – about $5,133 Culinary Arts A.A.S., Baking and Pastry Arts concentration: 63 credits – about $12,870 |
| Louisiana Culinary Institute | Baton Rouge | AOS in Culinary Arts, Advanced Baking and Pastry concentration: 65 credits – $36,075 |
| New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute | New Orleans | Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate: 643.5 clock hours – $16,911 |
| Nicholls State University | Thibodaux | BS in Culinary Arts, Pâtisserie Concentration: 120 credits – about $44,786 |
| Nunez Community College | Chalmette | Baker, Career and Technical Certificate: 15 credits – about $3,196 |
| SOWELA Technical Community College | Lake Charles | CTS Production Baker: 33 credits – about $5,664 Technical Diploma, Baking and Pastry Arts: 45 credits – about $7,816 Culinary Arts AAS, Baking and Pastry Arts Concentration: 60 credits – about $10,422 |
Public college estimates use each school’s latest posted Louisiana resident tuition and mandatory fees over its published plan, or an assumed number of terms where no plan is published, before financial aid. Delgado’s and Nunez’s figures include a per-credit textbook or bookstore access fee that those colleges bill with tuition. Estimates exclude course and lab fees, uniforms, tools, and living costs. Louisiana Culinary Institute’s and NOCHI’s figures are published program prices. Out-of-state figures, where they differ, appear in each profile.
Which Louisiana Baking Program May Fit You?
Earn a Short Baking Certificate
Nunez Community College in Chalmette offers a 15-credit Baker certificate built from five courses. Delgado Community College in New Orleans offers a 24-credit Pastry Arts Certificate of Technical Studies, and SOWELA Technical Community College in Lake Charles offers a 33-credit Production Baker certificate.
Earn a Diploma or Associate Degree
SOWELA stacks its certificate into a 45-credit Technical Diploma and a 60-credit Culinary Arts AAS with a Baking and Pastry Arts concentration. Delgado‘s 63-credit Culinary Arts A.A.S. has a Baking and Pastry Arts concentration, and certificate credits apply toward it.
Earn a Bachelor’s Degree
Nicholls State University in Thibodaux offers a Pâtisserie Concentration within its 120-credit Bachelor of Science in Culinary Arts at the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute.
Train Full Time at a Private School
The New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute runs a six-month, 643.5-hour Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate with small cohorts. Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge offers a 16-month Associate of Occupational Studies with an Advanced Baking and Pastry concentration.
Certificate, Associate Degree, or Bachelor’s Degree?
Certificates and Diplomas
Louisiana’s community and technical colleges award Career and Technical Certificates, Certificates of Technical Studies, and Technical Diplomas. They concentrate on kitchen courses and usually stack into a longer credential at the same college. NOCHI’s certificate is measured in clock hours, not credits.
Associate Degrees
The associate degrees at Delgado, SOWELA, and Louisiana Culinary Institute are culinary arts degrees with a named baking and pastry concentration. Students take general culinary courses alongside the baking sequence, so ask how many courses are baking-specific.
Bachelor’s Degree
Nicholls State’s pâtisserie concentration sits in the second half of a four-year culinary degree, after a two-year culinary foundation, and includes two summer internships.
Tuition and Additional Costs
Delgado, Nunez, and SOWELA charge $138.96 per credit in tuition, plus per-credit and per-term fees that differ by college. None of their posted schedules lists a separate non-resident rate, and Nunez describes its non-resident fee as currently suspended. Nicholls State publishes resident and out-of-state tables by credit-hour band, plus a culinary program fee of up to $250 per term.
The private schools publish one price for all students: $36,075 for Louisiana Culinary Institute’s AOS and $16,911 in school charges for NOCHI’s certificate, which includes its kit, uniform, and books.
Baking students should also budget for:
- Course and lab fees, which Delgado and Nunez list by course
- Uniforms, knife and pastry tool kits where they are not included
- Food safety certification
- Textbooks and supplies not covered by a bundled fee
- Transportation and living expenses
Programs No Longer Listed
Bossier Parish Community College, Baton Rouge Community College, South Louisiana Community College, and Northshore Technical Community College offer culinary arts programs that include baking courses but no baking-titled credential or concentration.
Questions to Ask Before Applying
- How many of the required courses are baking and pastry labs, and how many are general culinary courses?
- Which baking courses are offered each term, and can I finish in the published number of terms?
- What course fees, uniforms, and tool kits are required, and what do they cost?
- Is the certificate eligible for federal financial aid on its own?
- Do certificate credits count toward the diploma or associate degree?
- What is the school’s current accreditation status?
Delgado Community College
Delgado teaches pastry at its City Park Campus in New Orleans through a 24-credit Pastry Arts Certificate of Technical Studies and a Baking and Pastry Arts concentration within the 63-credit Culinary Arts A.A.S. Certificate credits apply directly toward the degree, which adds showpiece design, a cafe course and a pastry internship. The college charges one tuition and fee schedule regardless of residency, and the catalog lists ACFEF accreditation for Culinary Arts.
See the Delgado Community College baking profile for curriculum, costs, and admissions details.
Louisiana Culinary Institute
Louisiana Culinary Institute is a private school in Baton Rouge, licensed by the Louisiana Board of Regents and accredited by the Council on Occupational Education. Its Associate of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts offers an Advanced Baking and Pastry concentration: 65 credits and 1,335 clock hours over four consecutive semesters (16 months). The published total of $36,075 is the same for all students and includes uniforms, a starter knife set, textbooks and lab food.
See the Louisiana Culinary Institute baking profile for curriculum, costs, and admissions details.
New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute
NOCHI is a nonprofit school in downtown New Orleans, licensed by the Louisiana Board of Regents, that offers a full-time Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate. The clock-hour program runs 643.5 hours over about six months, with January and July cohorts of no more than 16 students and a student-run pop-up cafe as the capstone. Published school charges total $16,911.
See the New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute baking profile for curriculum, costs, and admissions details.
Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University’s Chef John Folse Culinary Institute in Thibodaux offers a Pâtisserie Concentration within its 120-credit Bachelor of Science in Culinary Arts. The concentration adds professional baking, international pastry, southern baking, cake decorating and candy making, retail baking and a ceramics course to a two-year culinary foundation, with 640 clock hours of internships. Nicholls has no baking certificate; its Associate of Science in Culinary Arts is a general culinary degree.
See the Nicholls State University baking profile for curriculum, costs, and admissions details.
Nunez Community College
Nunez Community College in Chalmette offers a 15-credit Baker Career and Technical Certificate built from five courses, including Baking and Advanced Baking labs. The catalog describes it as stackable into the Culinary Arts Certificate of Technical Studies and the Culinary Arts and Entrepreneurship Technical Diploma. The posted 2026–27 fee schedule charges residents and non-residents the same total.
See the Nunez Community College baking profile for curriculum, costs, and admissions details.
SOWELA Technical Community College
SOWELA in Lake Charles teaches baking as a named concentration within its Culinary Arts program, which the college states is accredited by the ACFEF Accrediting Commission. Students can exit with a Production Baker CTS, a 45-credit Technical Diploma, or the 60-credit AAS. The sequence includes a Baking and Pastries of the South course and a 9-credit internship, and the posted fee schedule shows no separate non-resident rate.
See the SOWELA Technical Community College baking profile for curriculum, costs, and admissions details.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Louisiana schools offer baking or pastry programs?
Six: Delgado Community College, Louisiana Culinary Institute, the New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute, Nicholls State University, Nunez Community College, and SOWELA Technical Community College.
What is the shortest baking program in Louisiana?
Nunez Community College’s Baker Career and Technical Certificate requires 15 credits. NOCHI’s Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate takes about six months of full-time study.
Does Louisiana offer a baking and pastry degree?
Yes, as concentrations within culinary arts degrees. Delgado and SOWELA offer associate degrees with a Baking and Pastry Arts concentration, Louisiana Culinary Institute offers an Associate of Occupational Studies with an Advanced Baking and Pastry concentration, and Nicholls State offers a bachelor’s degree with a Pâtisserie Concentration.
How much does a baking program cost in Louisiana?
At the community and technical colleges, estimated tuition and fees run from about $3,196 for Nunez’s 15-credit certificate to about $12,870 for Delgado’s A.A.S. concentration. NOCHI’s certificate is $16,911, Louisiana Culinary Institute’s AOS is $36,075, and Nicholls State’s bachelor’s degree is about $44,786 for Louisiana residents.
Do out-of-state students pay more at Louisiana community colleges?
The posted tuition schedules for Delgado, Nunez, and SOWELA show no separate non-resident rate. Confirm with the college before enrolling, because these policies can change. Nicholls State publishes a separate out-of-state table.
Program requirements and costs can change. Confirm all details with the school before applying.