Ranked #23 in popularity, culinary arts is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 98 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 7,239 associate degrees in culinary arts during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Choosing a Great Culinary Arts School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of culinary arts for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality culinary arts program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on culinary arts students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other culinary arts students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How easy is it for culinary arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized culinary arts related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for culinary arts students working on their associate degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Culinary Arts in the United States
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for culinary arts students seeking a an associate degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Any student who is interested in an associate degree in culinary arts has to check out Culinary Institute of America. The Culinary Institute of America is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Hyde Park.
Students who graduate with their associate from the culinary arts program report average early career income of $28,049.
Johnson & Wales University - Providence is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in culinary arts. Located in the medium-sized city of Providence, JWU Providence is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Associate students who receive their degree from the culinary arts program earn around $27,514 in their early career salary.
Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in culinary arts has to look into Sullivan University. Located in the city of Louisville, Sullivan University is a private for-profit university with a small student population.
Associate students who receive their degree from the culinary arts program make about $24,292 for their early career.
It's hard to beat Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte if you wish to pursue an associate degree in culinary arts. JWU Charlotte is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Charlotte.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the culinary arts program make about $27,514 for their early career.
Located in the midsize city of Fort Lauderdale, Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Culinary Arts associate degree recipients from Keiser University - Ft Lauderdale receive an earnings boost of about $2,076 above the average earnings of culinary arts graduates.
Located in the city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Culinary Arts associate degree recipients from El Centro College earn a boost of approximately $5,687 above the average earnings of culinary arts majors.
JCCC is a large public college located in the midsize city of Overland Park.
Associate recipients from the culinary arts degree program at Johnson County Community College earn $12,894 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the rural area of Mays Landing, Atlantic Cape Community College is a public college with a small student population.
Associate recipients from the culinary arts degree program at Atlantic Cape Community College get $5,556 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
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).