Monroe College: looking for great students - and really good cooks, too

(Less than an hour from Manhattan, Monroe College is focused on building an elite program in culinary and hospitality management. And they're offering scholarships through CCAP. Check 'em out.)

Monroe College way up north in New Rochelle, NY, sent the dean of hospitality management and the coordinator of culinary admissions to jump-start this year's CCAP competition season.

Glendale High School's culinary department hosted the Saturday practice session, with more than two dozen students from several schools participating.

Frank Costantino, dean of Monroe's School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts and executive chef of The Dining Lab, along with admissions coordinator Enmely Soriano, discussed Monroe's contemporary and competitive culinary programs.

"We're beginning 2016 with a new personality," the dean says. "We are now The Culinary Institute of New York at Monroe College.  What's important to us, most, is to see students reach their potential."

At Monroe, he and Enmely emphasized, the relatively small student body allows instructors and professors to work closely with students. 

(In fact, Enmely noted that "Most students call him (Dean Costantino) 'Papa.' He runs the program, yes, but he's like a dad to students. He's always in the kitchen, helping kids.")

"We do have a highly selective program," he emphasizes. "We look for passion, but also the drive to learn about the industry. You're not going to college to be a (line) cook.

"You can get an associate's degree, sure, but you can get that B.A. in three years, and then you can look at moving ahead even into management."

Monroe, based in suburban New York, is also highly competitive, both in student selection and in fronting culinary teams that have garnered more than 600 top wins in recent years.

"We have a highly diverse student population, and we're actively looking for students who are aware of the rigors involved in hospitality." 

And while Monroe's tuition is still just about 60 percent of that required for "bigger name" programs (think CIA), there are several scholarships that will be awarded through this year's CCAP competitions.

"CCAP is a great way for us to identify qualified, eager students," Costantino says. "We want students who can come in with the expectation they will graduate."

Learn more about Monroe at www.monroecollege.edu, or call 1-800-556-6676 to receive a brochure.