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Bartender, cook, and waitress education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Usually, bartender, cook, and waitresses don't need a college education. The most common degree for bartender, cook, and waitresses is high school diploma with 42% graduates, with only 22% bartender, cook, and waitress graduates earning associate degree. Bartender, cook, and waitresses who decided to graduate from college often finish University of Phoenix or Baker College. Some good skills to have in this position include food orders, customer orders and bartending.

What education do you need to become a bartender, cook, and waitress?

What degree do you need to be a bartender, cook, and waitress?

The most common degree for bartender, cook, and waitresses is high school diploma, with 42% of bartender, cook, and waitresses earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 22% and associate degree degree at 19%.
  • High School Diploma, 42%
  • Associate, 22%
  • Bachelor's, 19%
  • Diploma, 10%
  • Other Degrees, 7%

What should I major in to become a bartender, cook, and waitress?

You should major in business to become a bartender, cook, and waitress. 19% of bartender, cook, and waitresses major in business. Other common majors for a bartender, cook, and waitress include general studies and nursing.

Best majors for bartender, cook, and waitresses

RankMajorPercentages
1Business18.6%
2General Studies10.9%
3Nursing7.3%
4Accounting6.7%
5Criminal Justice6.5%

20 best online courses for bartender, cook, and waitresses

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1. Cooking for Busy Healthy People

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Cooking is one of the most powerful ways in which we can optimize our enjoyment of great quality food while protecting our health. Even on a tight budget, cooking can be a cost-effective, joyful and rewarding way to love the food that will love us back for a lifetime. In this course, you’ll learn some basic recipes from a home cook and two professional chefs who prioritize healthful eating. You’ll also learn some of the fundamentals of principle-based cooking that can help you break free from...

2. SAP Customer Service (CS/SM) - Service Management module

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4.4
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Real World SAP CS and SD, Repair Orders, Service Orders, Service Contracts...

3. Fun food safety and sanitation course

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4.6
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The food safety course will help prepare you for safely working in a kitchen and food handler tests like Servesafe...

4. Customer Service & Support For Customer Service Executives

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4.5
(941)

Learn Customer Service Skills & Provide Excellent Customer Support, Customer Experience & How To Manage Upset Customers...

5. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer

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4.7
(18,204)

Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...

6. Cook Real Food: How to Make Simple Plant-Based Meals

udemy
4.6
(1,644)

Learn how to cook whole plant foods to make quick, easy, and healthy vegan meals for practical everyday eating...

7. Customer Service, Customer Support, And Customer Experience

udemy
4.6
(2,666)

Customer service, customer support, and customer experience training. Loyal clients through world-class customer service...

8. ISO 22000:2018. Food Safety Management System

udemy
4.4
(976)

Understand the requirements for a food safety management system applicable for any organization in the food chain...

9. Food Safety for Managers and Supervisors

udemy
4.3
(489)

The Highfield Food Safety Level 3 syllabus presented in two hours of video tutorials. Boost your food safety knowledge...

10. Customer Service: 6 Keys To Exceptional Customer Service

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4.6
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Master Customer Satisfaction & Astonish Your Customers With A+ Customer Service...

11. Customer Service

udemy
4.6
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How to Approach New Customers and Maintain Existing Ones...

12. Customer Service Success: Take Your Skills to the Next Level

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4.5
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3-in-1 Customer Service Training: Levels 1, 2, 3 Improve Your Soft Communication Skills, Customer Support & Experience...

13. [2023] Customer Service 2.0: Learn Digital Customer Service

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Used by Chase®, Intel®, & more! Learn soft skills, social media customer service, diagnosing user problems, & more...

14. The Customer: Build a Customer Service Strategy (BITE SIZE)

udemy
4.5
(10,168)

For you and your team to be successful in providing great customer service, start by putting your customer first...

15. Fundamentals of Logistics, Supply Chain & Customer Service

udemy
4.5
(3,822)

Learn Logistics, Supply Chain and Customer Service. 3 Courses in 1...

16. Your Customer Service Toolbox: Best Practices for Beginners

udemy
4.5
(4,101)

Excel as a front-line customer service agent using problem-solving & relationship-building skills, etiquette, and more...

17. Customer Service: Keep 'em coming back!

udemy
4.5
(3,150)

How to give the best customer service in your industry and keep those customers raving about your business...

18. Brilliant Customer Service: How to Impress your Customers!

udemy
4.7
(12,891)

Enhance your customer support and truly differentiate yourself from your competition!...

19. Customer Service Basics: Improve your Service now

udemy
4.5
(889)

The basic golden rules to kickstart your service...

20. Customer Service Training: Dealing with Difficult Customers

udemy
4.5
(1,035)

Learn how to deal with difficult customers Master customer relationship management Gain conflict management skills...

Average bartender, cook, and waitress salary by education level

According to our data, bartender, cook, and waitresses with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $30,759 annually. Bartender, cook, and waitresses with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $30,100.
Bartender, cook, and waitress education levelBartender, cook, and waitress salary
Master's Degree$30,759
High School Diploma or Less$28,204
Bachelor's Degree$30,100
Some College/ Associate Degree$29,136

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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