2025 Best Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region
9Colleges in the Plains States Region
593Culinary Arts Degrees Awarded
$24,750Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in culinary arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #97 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual reviewed 9 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of culinary arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 593 degrees in culinary arts annually.
The culinary arts program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Culinary Arts rankings. For our Best Overall Culinary Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for Culinary Arts in the Plains States Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the culinary arts degrees they offer, see the list below.
Saint Paul College is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in culinary arts. Saint Paul College is a medium-sized public college located in the large city of Saint Paul. This college ranks 43rd out of 52 schools for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were about 33 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Saint Paul College in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the culinary arts degree program at Saint Paul College get $7,728 above the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Any student who is interested in culinary arts has to check out Johnson County Community College. Located in the city of Overland Park, JCCC is a public college with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #347 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means JCCC is a great college overall.
There were about 24 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at JCCC in the most recent data year. Those culinary arts students who get their degree from Johnson County Community College make $14,227 more than the standard culinary arts graduate.
Des Moines Area Community College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in culinary arts. Located in the suburb of Ankeny, DMACC is a public college with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #408 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means DMACC is a great college overall.
There were roughly 45 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at DMACC in the most recent data year. Culinary Arts degree recipients from Des Moines Area Community College receive an earnings boost of around $2,163 over the typical income of culinary arts majors.
Kirkwood Community College is a great decision for students interested in a degree in culinary arts. Located in the city of Cedar Rapids, Kirkwood Community College is a public college with a large student population. This college ranks 16th out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were roughly 40 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Kirkwood Community College in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the culinary arts program report average early career earnings of $21,391.
Located in the city of Lincoln, Southeast Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #754 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Southeast Community College is a great college overall.
There were about 26 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Southeast Community College in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the culinary arts program earn an average of $26,446 in the first couple years of working.
MCC is a fairly large public college located in the city of Omaha. A Best Colleges rank of #615 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means MCC is a great college overall.
There were about 28 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at MCC in the most recent data year.
Saint Louis Community College is a large public college located in the large suburb of Bridgeton. This college ranks 22nd out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were approximately 35 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Saint Louis Community College in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the culinary arts program make about $26,318 for their early career.
Located in the city of Sioux City, Western Iowa Tech Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 32nd out of 37 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were about 33 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Western Iowa Tech Community College in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the culinary arts program report average early career earnings of $24,061.
OTC is a fairly large public college located in the midsize city of Springfield. This college ranks 32nd out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were approximately 50 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at OTC in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the culinary arts program earn around $25,879 in their early career salary.
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).
The culinary arts program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Culinary Arts rankings. For our Best Overall Culinary Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
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