California Culinary Academy: SF Weekly Exposé Spawns $40 Million Settlement

Brandon Cory

I attended Le Cordon Bleu Las Vegas in 07-08 and i can relate to this story immensely. I paid 42k for "accelerated" classes that spent very little time from one subject to the next. Some instructors we better than others & granted its all in how you apply yourself. But the loans i took out were not worth the quality of education and materials received. Many of us were left with poor knife skills and shabby line cook work ethics, not enough to break into Sin City's culinary mecha and stand a chance. Not to mention is was quite clear to alot of us LCB would loan to any fool who could pick up a knife and sign a loan doc. Lets not even discuss their "job placement program" *it gives me agita just thinking about it.... After deferment after deferment my interest climbed by 10k leaving me with a mortgage sized student loan payment and very little to show for it in this shabby economy. I live off of luck and whit with a tall glass of desperation from month to month wondering why i did all that to begin with. After consolidating all my debt im still in sad shape and one wrong maneuver could leave me homeless and starving. These "for profit schools" are going to be the epicenter of the next housing crisis with their green eyed loan practices.

Johnny Doe

Our firm is looking for clients that attended the CCA between September 2003 and October 2008. You may be entitled to compensation due to a recent class action that has settled. If interested, please e-mail me at gettothechopper40@yahoo.com.

Togao32

I attended in oct 2001 to april 2003 when I graduated. Do I have a case? Togao32@yahoo.com

Debbie Dacus Jimenez

Johnny Doe , My son attented the CCA in Pasadena CA in 2003 and now he has an outstanding balance of a $40,000 loan on a very High intrest rate , due to the faulty promises to the students and to my son about placing them with a job in the resturaunt industry, after graduating from the school . I 'am writing you for your help.

Thanks so much ,

Debbie Jimenez

Karriehills

I graduated CCA in 1997... I am still paying off loans..... Job placment... help from the career counselors.. N/A. Never have I recieved help with job placements from the CCA throughout my Culinary Carrer. I have been struggling to find a good paying postion for over 10 years. Yes that has included Exucutive Chef postions.I have found myself on unemployment throughout my career at least 3 times. Upon graduating... I had already received negative feed back in the Culinary field. I cook for the love/passion for it. I was sold a raw deal.... with high expectation of a well paying career from a World renound Culinary School, that no matter what the field would endear the Academy would be there to guide fellow graduates, with both new delevoping trends, further eduational classes and job placments. I waited 2 years for help with job placement. Mutiple phone calls and follow up messages, before I finallyl just gave up!!!!!!

We have been exploited

At the time I thought I was heading in a great direction, loved the school and all it offered. But to find out the that the credibility was not superior. As I am still paying off the loans today. And the industry is not at all what CCA portrayed it to be. I do love to create food and I am exceptional at what I do. But it has been an on going job to find a job. Maybe this Settlement explains HOW (us) graduates have been exploitedand are still in debt. And are still seeking career jobs.

Uncle Fishbits

I remember when Burnt Chefs was out... can't believe that was 2007. I doted on that article.. it was brilliant journalism. Very cool. Congrats and Thanks to the author.... it is simply brilliant.

Amy

i go to the school now, and i still feel like im being ripped off, i was rushed into it without really being explained the money situations.

Albert

james is right! i say, before you go to CCA, work for free at a fine dining restaurant. That way, you'll know if its the right profession for you. work for about a couple of weeks. you'll probably learn more at a restaurant, than at CCA.

when i attended CCA, i had never worked in the restaurant industry ever! when i graduated, i felt like i still didn't learn all that i needed to work at a restaurant. the worst feeling was to have some chef's play favorites to some of the people in class. They were the "teacher's pets." They got the most attention and knew how to cook. and the ones who were struggling were just ignored. the good students were usually assigned entres like steak, turkey, lobster, etc while other students got stuck making simple foods like salad, and all that was required were to just cut vegetables like a prep cook. I think, throughout the whole time i was there, no one ever taught me how to properly cook a steak, pig, chicken or lamb because I never got the opportunity too cook it. I think there was even one day where all we did was just carve pumpkins.

now, is learning how to carve pumpkins worth $50,000+ in loans? whats worse, is NOT knowing how to cook after graduating from a culinary school???

as far as the restaurant industry, the school didn't tell me anything about the downsides of being a cook or chef. once you've worked in the industry for awhile, you'll find out if this is the right career choice for you. I had to find out the hard way and find out that being a cook wasn't what i wanted to be. i just found out that recently, half of of my class got jobs doing nothing related to food. some of them just went back to school to get a different degree.

all i gotta say is, is that if you're still interested in going to school for cooking, just go to a community college like city college in sf and save yourself some money.

Rudy Sanchez77

Or how much you will really make when you graduate

Albert Austria

a regular line cook can make about $8 to $10 an hour, sometimes with no benefits. if you're lucky, hotels like the four seasons pay $14 with benifits. if you end up working for a fine dining restaurant or five star hotel, the conditions that you will have to go through are similar to working for chef ramsey on that tv show hell's kitchen. if you're not prepared, you will go through a lot of verbal abuse, much like the military. my dad, who was just a line cook had suffered some pain to his back and right arm from lifting and cutting for more than 20 years. now he's filing for disability.

if you're okay getting yelled at, and sometimes have food get thrown at you; the long hours; having to work during holidays; the possibility of getting injured on the job; servers and customers that give you a hard time; having to pay a ridiculous amount for school, just so that you can learn how to torne potatoes; but still have a passion for cooking?...then being a chef is the right job for you!!!!

James

get out now. you don't need the school. go to any restaurant and ask if you can be an unpaid intern. they will let you peel potatoes free of charge as long as you show up in your whites. there is no sense in paying CCA to work for someone else for free. eventually, if the chef likes you, he'll hire you on garde manger or something. if it doesn't work out, at least you're not in debt and are free to pursue something else.