With the hospitality industry booming there are more cooking schools opening up all the time.
However, they are not all created equal and there are only a few truly prestigious culinary schools that prospective professional chefs are aiming to attend.
These top culinary schools produce more master chefs than any other cooking educational facility and have a wide range of courses and degrees available.
If you are thinking about a career in the restaurant industry then it is a good idea to be familiar with the top culinary schools.
The following are considered to be some of the best world class cooking schools (listed in no particular order):

Le Cordon Bleu (French for blue ribbon) - Probably the most famous and respected hospitality educational institution that started in 1895 and now boasts over twenty thousand students in five continents.
One of the more famous graduates is American Iron Chef Mario Batali.

The Culinary Institute of America - Opened in 1946 the CIA is a very popular culinary school that boasts classes for everyone from professional chefs to recreational classes for those who just want to learn the basics.
Chef Anthony Bourdain is a former student of the Culinary Institute of America.

Western Culinary Institute - A school partnered with Le Cordon Bleu (the first outside of France) that supports over 800 students.

There are many other notable cooking schools such as; New England Culinary Institute, The Art Institutes, The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago and many more.
These are all fine institutions for those wanting to become involved in the hospitality industry.

When choosing a school it is a good idea to personally visit as many campuses as possible and make sure they offer the course/degree that you want to complete.
It can be a difficult choice deciding which school to attend, but with a little bit of research finding a quality school isn't all that hard.