If you plan on majoring in culinary arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #97 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual looked at 98 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Culinary Arts Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 22,075 degrees in culinary arts annually.
The culinary arts program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Culinary Arts rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for culinary arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Culinary Arts Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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 in the United States
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the culinary arts degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Every student pursuing a degree in culinary arts needs to look into Culinary Institute of America. 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 661 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at The Culinary Institute of America in the most recent year we have data available. Those culinary arts students who get their degree from Culinary Institute of America make $3,632 more than the typical culinary arts graduate.
Johnson & Wales University - Providence is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in culinary arts. JWU Providence is a small private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Providence. A Best Colleges rank of #236 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means JWU Providence is a great university overall.
There were about 536 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at JWU Providence in the most recent data year. Culinary Arts degree recipients from Johnson & Wales University - Providence earn a boost of about $5,272 over the typical income of culinary arts majors.
Every student pursuing a degree in culinary arts has to check out 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 70 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Sullivan University in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, culinary arts degree recipients generally make around $24,292 at the beginning of their careers.
Every student who is interested in culinary arts has to check out Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte. Located in the large 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 schools nationwide means JWU Charlotte is a great university overall.
There were about 218 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at JWU Charlotte in the most recent year we have data available. Those culinary arts students who get their degree from Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte earn $2,868 more than the standard culinary arts student.
Located in the large city of Orlando, Valencia College is a public college with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #130 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Valencia College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 467 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Valencia College in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the culinary arts program state that they receive average early career earnings of $25,227.
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 colleges nationwide means Madison College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 44 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Madison College in the most recent data year.
ECPI University is a large private for-profit university located in the 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 122 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at ECPI University in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, culinary arts degree recipients usually make around $23,274 in their early careers.
Located in the town of Coos Bay, SWOCC is a public college with a small student population. This college ranks 15th out of 29 colleges for overall quality in the state of Oregon.
There were roughly 37 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at SWOCC in the most recent year we have data available. Those culinary arts students who get their degree from Southwestern Oregon Community College receive $3,100 more than the typical culinary arts grad.
MATC is a fairly 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 roughly 28 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at MATC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the culinary arts program state that they receive average early career earnings of $25,304.
CPTC is a small public college located in the city of Lakewood. This college ranks 10th out of 50 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were approximately 31 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at CPTC in the most recent data year.
Located in the large 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 about 93 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at NLU in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, culinary arts degree recipients generally make about $24,786 at the beginning of their careers.
Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Lauderdale. A Best Colleges rank of #123 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale is a great university overall.
There were approximately 41 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale in the most recent year we have data available. Culinary Arts degree recipients from Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale earn a boost of approximately $3,409 over the typical earnings of culinary arts graduates.
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 77 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Niagara County Community College in the most recent data year. After graduating, culinary arts degree recipients usually make about $26,514 in the first five years of their career.
El Centro College is a very large public college located in the city of Dallas. A Best Colleges rank of #281 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means El Centro College is a great college overall.
There were about 112 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at El Centro College in the most recent data year. Those culinary arts students who get their degree from El Centro College make $6,377 more than the standard culinary arts student.
San Jacinto College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Pasadena. This college ranks 31st out of 115 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were about 38 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at San Jacinto 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 roughly 33 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Saint Paul College in the most recent data year. Culinary Arts degree recipients from Saint Paul College earn a boost of about $7,728 over the typical earnings of culinary arts graduates.
Located in the medium-sized city of Overland Park, JCCC is a public college with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #347 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means JCCC is a great college overall.
There were approximately 24 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at JCCC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the culinary arts degree program at Johnson County Community College make $14,227 above the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Delaware Tech is a fairly large public college located in the city of Dover. This college ranks 2nd out of 3 colleges for overall quality in the state of Delaware.
There were approximately 32 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Delaware Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the culinary arts program earn an average of $26,031 for their early career.
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 roughly 29 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Atlantic Cape Community College in the most recent year we have data available. Culinary Arts degree recipients from Atlantic Cape Community College receive an earnings boost of approximately $6,889 over the average income of culinary arts majors.
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 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).
The culinary arts program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Culinary Arts rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for culinary arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
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