2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Culinary Arts is the 80th most popular major in the country with 21,906 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, culinary arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $23,822 and had an average of $19,004 in loans still to pay off.

Across Colorado, there were 1,721 culinary arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $26,100 and $17,054 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 205 culinary arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,269 and $19,040 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in culinary arts. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent culinary arts programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the culinary arts program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts (Income $0-$30k) in Colorado

#1

Pikes Peak Community College

Colorado Springs, Colorado

#2 in overall quality

$8,861 Average Net Price

$27,729 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Pikes Peak Community College. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k list. PPCC is a fairly large public school situated in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It awarded 48 associates’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

PPCC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” list. It costs about $8,861 for colorado associate degree culinary arts students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Pikes Peak Community College.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Pikes Peak Community College

#2

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado

#3 in overall quality

$12,708 Average Net Price

$23,182 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Colorado Mesa University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k. Colorado Mesa University is a medium-sized public school situated in Grand Junction, Colorado. It awarded 12 associates’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Colorado Mesa, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. It costs about $12,708 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Colorado Mesa.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Colorado Mesa University

#3

Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

#4 in overall quality

$9,889 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k list. Escoffier - Boulder is located in Boulder, Colorado and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 39 associates’s culinary arts degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Escoffier - Boulder, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder is $9,889 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full Escoffier - Boulder Culinary Arts Report

#4

Johnson & Wales University - Denver

Denver, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$23,662 Average Net Price

$27,999 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Johnson & Wales University - Denver. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Making $0-$30k list. This small school is located in Denver, Colorado, and it awarded 80 associates’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

JWU Denver also took the #1 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. It costs about $23,662 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Johnson & Wales University - Denver.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University - Denver

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts (Income $0-$30k) in the Rocky Mountains Region
• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts (Income $0-$30k)

Notes and References

References

• 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to U.S. Army Europe Images.

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