Matt Kepp grew up in a small Georgia town with 10,000 people and one high school.
After graduating, he needed direction in his life. A path to follow for a career.
Kepp remembered his grandmother, a caterer in Atlanta, had told him he would benefit from cooking.
It was something he didn’t really understand until he began looking for what to do with his life.
A Google search led him to the Art Institute of Jacksonville.
Finally, his grandmother’s advice made sense. His career path would be in culinary management.
Kepp’s passion for cooking runs so deep, he doesn’t mind “when I work 18 hours, seven days a week for month and a half.”
He’s now executive corporate chef at V Pizza in Jacksonville.
Kepp is one of thousands of students who have attended the Art Institute since it opened in 2007. The school, a branch of Miami International University of Art & Design, is shutting down after the current students complete their studies. No new students are being accepted.
The “teaching-out” phase could take two to three years, according to Chris Hardman, vice president of communications for Education Management Corp.
Hardman said Jacksonville is one of 15 Art Institutes ending their runs, leaving 36 open nationwide.
The closures came as part of a strategic look at programs to “focus on providing the best student-employer outcomes,” Hardman said.
Ten of the approximately 70 Jacksonville employees lost their jobs last week, Hardman said.
The workers, mainly from the admissions area, received severance packages, he said.
The remaining employees will be eligible to apply for jobs at the company’s remaining institutes. There are three other institutes in Florida: Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Tampa.
Hardman said there are about 375 students at the Art Institute of Jacksonville, which also offered degrees in design, media arts and fashion.
“We intend to fulfill our commitment to help our students achieve their education and career goals, putting them on the path to a life of creativity,” he said.
Kepp said the caliber of chefs at the institute was phenomenal. Top students were given the latitude to experiment, at times with high-priced ingredients like $100 Kobe steaks.
“They knew we would not disrespect the product,” he said.
Kepp said had a “really cool educational experience” at the institute, though he was critical of the financial side of the school.
For example, he said, the school asked for his and his father’s tax returns three or four times to verify information.
And it was costly for Kepp, who said he is one sociology class shy of receiving his bachelor’s degree in culinary management and entrepreneurship.
He plans to transfer his credits to another school to complete his degree.
Kepp said his time there cost $109,000, of which he still owes $40,000. He’s paying $450 per month toward that debt.
His first culinary job was at Nippers, but after several years he “started to lose the passion for wanting to learn.”
Kepp knew one of the owners was opening V Pizza so he asked if there was a part-time job he could do on the side.
The owner told him he had another position and to just show up at the restaurant.
When Kepp arrived, the owner made this announcement to employees: “Let me introduce my new manager.”
Kepp was promoted to executive corporate chef in December.
Another step in the path he didn’t know he would take, but one his grandmother continues to help lead him down.
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