2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts in Colorado (With Aid)

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Getting Aid” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 Getting Aid” 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.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the culinary arts program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Culinary Arts Schools

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 Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. 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 Getting Aid

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

Top 4 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts in Colorado (With Aid)

#1

Pikes Peak Community College

Colorado Springs, Colorado

#2 in overall quality

$10,336 Average Net Price

$27,729 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Pikes Peak Community College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Getting Aid. PPCC is a public institution located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 48 associates’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at PPCC, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for PPCC is $10,336 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students with aid.

Full PPCC Culinary Arts Report

#2

Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

#4 in overall quality

$10,136 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Getting Aid list. Boulder, Colorado is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out associates’s culinary arts degrees to 39 students in 2019-2020.

Escoffier - Boulder also took the #4 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder is $10,136 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students with aid.

Full Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder Culinary Arts Report

#3

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado

#3 in overall quality

$15,569 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 #3 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado For Those Getting Aid. Colorado Mesa is a medium-sized public school situated in Grand Junction, Colorado. It awarded 12 associates’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Colorado Mesa not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” list. It costs about $15,569 for colorado associate degree culinary arts students with aid per year to attend Colorado Mesa.

Read more about Culinary Arts at Colorado Mesa University

#4

Johnson & Wales University - Denver

Denver, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$26,221 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 Getting Aid list. Johnson & Wales University - Denver is a small school located in Denver, Colorado that handed out 80 associates’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

JWU Denver not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The yearly cost to attend JWU Denver is $26,221 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students with aid.

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 JWU Denver

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts in the Rocky Mountains Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts (With Aid)

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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