A degree in culinary arts/chef training is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #168 out of 1506 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 73 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for culinary arts/chef training students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 10,546 degrees in culinary arts/chef training to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Culinary Arts/Chef Training School
Your choice of culinary arts/chef training school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Culinary Arts/Chef Training School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Pick Your Culinary Arts/Chef Training Degree Level
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Culinary Arts/Chef Training Schools list to help you make the college decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Culinary Arts/Chef Training in the United States
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the culinary arts/chef training degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Culinary Institute of America is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in culinary arts/chef training. Located in the large suburb of Hyde Park, The Culinary Institute of America is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were about 387 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at The Culinary Institute of America in the most recent data year.
It is difficult to beat Johnson & Wales University - Providence if you want to pursue a degree in culinary arts/chef training. JWU Providence is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Providence. A Best Colleges rank of #236 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means JWU Providence is a great university overall.
There were about 249 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at JWU Providence in the most recent year we have data available.
Every student pursuing a degree in culinary arts/chef training has to take a look at Sullivan University. Sullivan University is a small private for-profit university located in the city of Louisville. This university ranks 4th out of 39 schools for overall quality in the state of Kentucky.
There were about 50 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at Sullivan University in the most recent year we have data available.
Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte is a great decision for students interested in a degree in culinary arts/chef training. Located in the city of Charlotte, JWU Charlotte is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #208 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means JWU Charlotte is a great university overall.
There were roughly 129 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at JWU Charlotte in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Madison, Madison College is a public college with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #223 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Madison College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 10 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at Madison College in the most recent year we have data available.
ECPI University is a large private for-profit university located in the large city of Virginia Beach. A Best Colleges rank of #215 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means ECPI University is a great university overall.
There were approximately 76 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at ECPI University in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the town of Coos Bay, SWOCC is a public college with a small student population. This college ranks 15th out of 29 schools for overall quality in the state of Oregon.
There were roughly 24 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at SWOCC in the most recent year we have data available.
MATC is a large public college located in the city of Milwaukee. A Best Colleges rank of #465 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means MATC is a great college overall.
There were approximately 16 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at MATC in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Chicago, NLU is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #385 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means NLU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 71 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at NLU in the most recent data year.
Niagara County Community College is a small public college located in the rural area of Sanborn. This college ranks 103rd out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 34 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at Niagara County Community College in the most recent data year.
El Centro College is a fairly large public college located in the large city of Dallas. A Best Colleges rank of #281 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means El Centro College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 76 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at El Centro College in the most recent data year.
Saint Paul College is a medium-sized public college located in the city of Saint Paul. This college ranks 43rd out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were about 24 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at Saint Paul College in the most recent data year.
Delaware Tech is a large public college located in the city of Dover. A Best Colleges rank of #478 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Delaware Tech is a great college overall.
There were roughly 27 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at Delaware Tech in the most recent year we have data available.
Atlantic Cape Community College is a small public college located in the rural area of Mays Landing. This college ranks 28th out of 45 schools for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.
There were about 21 culinary arts/chef training students who graduated with this degree at Atlantic Cape Community College in the most recent data year.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Culinary Arts/Chef Training Schools award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Your choice of culinary arts/chef training school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Culinary Arts/Chef Training School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
.jpg){kind=link}