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2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid

8 Ranked Colleges
469 Degrees Awarded
$6,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 California, there were 1,907 culinary arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $24,600 and $22,956 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 469 culinary arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $36,451 and $19,634 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in culinary arts. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great culinary arts programs and 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Culinary Arts Schools

The culinary arts school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most 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 California For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for california associate degree culinary arts students with aid.

Top 8 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts in California (With Aid)

#1

Orange Coast College

Costa Mesa, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Orange Coast College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid. Costa Mesa, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s culinary arts degrees to 25 students in 2019-2020.

Orange Coast College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $3,178 for california associate degree culinary arts students with aid per year to attend Orange Coast College.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Orange Coast College

#2

Cypress College

Cypress, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Cypress College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid. Located in Cypress, California, this fairly large public school handed out 29 degrees to qualified associates’s culinary arts students in 2019-2020.

Cypress College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $3,489 for California Associate Degree Culinary Arts students with aid per year to attend Cypress College.

Full Cypress College Culinary Arts Report

#3

Santa Rosa Junior College

Santa Rosa, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Santa Rosa Junior College. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid. Located in Santa Rosa, California, this fairly large public school handed out 14 degrees to qualified associates’s culinary arts students in 2019-2020.

SRJC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Santa Rosa Junior College is $5,782 for california associate degree culinary arts students with aid.

Full Santa Rosa Junior College Culinary Arts Report

#4

San Diego Mesa College

San Diego, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Diego Mesa College. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid. San Diego Mesa College is a public institution located in San Diego, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 9 associates’s degrees in 2019-2020.

San Diego Mesa College also took the #6 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for San Diego Mesa College is $4,978 for California Associate Degree Culinary Arts students with aid.

Full San Diego Mesa College Culinary Arts Report

#5

Los Angeles Trade Technical College

Los Angeles, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Los Angeles Trade Technical College. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid. Los Angeles Trade Technical College is a fairly large public school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 42 associates’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california associate degree culinary arts students with aid list, Los Angeles Trade Technical College has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Los Angeles Trade Technical College is $6,907 for California Associate Degree Culinary Arts students with aid.

Full Los Angeles Trade Technical College Culinary Arts Report

#6

Riverside City College

Riverside, California
#7 in overall quality

Riverside City College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #6. Riverside, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s culinary arts degrees to 17 students in 2019-2020.

Riverside City College also took the #7 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Riverside City College is $4,620 for California Associate Degree Culinary Arts students with aid.

Read more about Culinary Arts at Riverside City College

#7

Laney College

Oakland, California

Laney College landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. Oakland, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s culinary arts degrees to 15 students in 2019-2020.

Laney College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Laney College is $11,977 for California Associate Degree Culinary Arts students with aid.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Laney College

#8

Santa Barbara City College

Santa Barbara, California
#8 in overall quality

Santa Barbara City College landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. Santa Barbara City College is a fairly large school located in Santa Barbara, California that handed out 3 associates’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SBCC, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $7,556 for california associate degree culinary arts students with aid per year to attend Santa Barbara City College.

Full Santa Barbara City College Culinary Arts Report

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.

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