2026 Best Value Culinary Science/Culinology Bachelor’s Degree Schools
[Culinary Science/Culinology](/majors/personal-and-culinary-services/culinary-arts/culinary-science-culinology/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. A high-value program keeps cost low while graduates go on to earn well.
College Factual analyzed 13 schools to build this 2026 ranking of the best value culinary science/culinology schools.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Culinary Science/Culinology Schools in the United States
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in culinary science/culinology, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value Culinary Science/Culinology Schools
For return on investment in culinary science/culinology, no school beat Texas Womans University this year. Texas Womans University is a large public school located in the city of Denton. Students from in state pay about $8,640 in tuition and fees, while out-of-state students pay about $18,480. Culinary Science/culinology graduates carry a median of $24,211 in student loans. Culinary Science/culinology graduates of Texas Womans University earn a median of $54,611 early in their careers. That is a strong return on a $24,211 median debt. Texas Womans University admits about 96% of applicants.
Culinary Institute Of America is a great value for students pursuing a degree in culinary science/culinology, landing the #2 spot this year. Culinary Institute Of America is a mid-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Hyde Park. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $38,670. Typical student debt for culinary science/culinology graduates is $27,000. Early-career culinary science/culinology graduates make about $43,808. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. The acceptance rate is 91%.
A rank of #3 makes Johnson And Wales University Providence one of the best values for culinary science/culinology. Located in the city of Providence, Johnson And Wales University Providence is a mid-sized private not-for-profit university. Students from in state pay about $41,982 in tuition and fees. Culinary Science/culinology graduates carry a median of $27,000 in student loans. Soon after graduation, culinary science/culinology degree recipients from Johnson And Wales University Providence generally make around $32,775. Set against $27,000 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff. Roughly 88% of applicants are accepted.
A rank of #4 makes Drexel University one of the best values for culinary science/culinology. Drexel University is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $62,412. Typical student debt for culinary science/culinology graduates is $28,838. Soon after graduation, culinary science/culinology degree recipients from Drexel University generally make around $67,556. Set against $28,838 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff. Drexel University admits about 79% of applicants.
Other Culinary Science/Culinology Degree Levels
Explore the best-value culinary science/culinology schools at other degree levels:
View All Culinary Science/Culinology Rankings >
Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 13 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 2 ranked schools only.
- 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 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
