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Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California

2023 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California

3 Colleges
$25,389 Avg Salary
$15,195 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree School for You

Culinary Arts is the #16 most popular major in California with 1,378 degrees and certificates awarded in 2021-2022.

With all the trade school programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Trade College Search has created the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 3 schools in California to see which associate degree programs offered the best educational experiences for trade school students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in California

Check out the culinary arts associate degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top California Trade Schools for an Associate in Culinary Arts

#1

Cerritos College

Norwalk, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Cerritos College the best school in California for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Cerritos College is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Norwalk.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Cerritos College

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#2

Riverside City College

Riverside, CA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Riverside City College is a great place for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Riverside, Riverside City College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Riverside City College

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Los Angeles Trade Technical College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Trade Technical College is a public school with a large student population.

Full Culinary Arts at Los Angeles Trade Technical College Report

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Best Culinary Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Culinary Arts Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 342
Oregon 123
Nevada 74
Alaska 33
Hawaii 212

Culinary Arts is one of 4 different types of trade school programs to choose from.

Culinary Arts Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Culinary Arts/Chef Training 10,546
Baking & Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef 5,029
General Cooking & Related Culinary Arts 3,303
Restaurant, Culinary, & Catering Management/Manager 1,394
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant 786
Other Culinary Arts & Related Services 335
Institutional Food Workers 204
Culinary Science/Culinology 203
Bartending/Bartender 157
Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, & Dining Room Management/Manager 82
Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter 28
Wine Steward/Sommelier 8

Related Major Annual Graduates
Cosmetology 124,611
Funeral & Mortuary Science 2,186
Casino Operations and Services 385
Other Personal & Culinary Services 95

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 3 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to U.S. Army Europe Images.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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