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Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Plains States Region

2023 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Plains States Region

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

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree School for You

Culinary Arts is the #11 most popular major in the country with 22,075 degrees and certificates awarded in 2021-2022.

Today's trade school students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

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 the Plains States Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 9 schools in the Plains States Region 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 the Plains States Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for culinary arts majors pursuing a associate degree.

Top Plains States Region Trade Schools for an Associate in Culinary Arts

#1

Johnson County Community College

Overland Park, KS

Our 2023 rankings named Johnson County Community College the best school in the Plains States Region for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Overland Park, JCCC is a public school with a large student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Johnson County Community College

#2

Saint Paul College

Saint Paul, MN

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Paul College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list. Saint Paul College is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Saint Paul.

The average amount in student loans that culinary arts majors at Saint Paul College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $11,696.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Des Moines Area Community College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the large suburb of Ankeny, DMACC is a public college with a very large student population.

After completing their Associate Degree, culinary arts graduates from DMACC carry an average student debtload of $9,745.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Des Moines Area Community College

#4

Kirkwood Community College

Cedar Rapids, IA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Kirkwood Community College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids, Kirkwood Community College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Kirkwood Community College

The excellent associate degree programs at Southeast Community College Area helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best culinary arts schools in the Plains States Region . Located in the city of Lincoln, Southeast Community College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

On average, culinary arts graduates from Southeast Community College take out $14,745 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Full Culinary Arts at Southeast Community College Area Report

With a ranking of #6, Ozarks Technical Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Located in the midsize city of Springfield, OTC is a public school with a large student population.

While working on their Associate Degree, culinary arts majors at OTC accumulate an average of around $12,671 in student debt.

Full Culinary Arts at Ozarks Technical Community College Report

With a ranking of #7, Saint Louis Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Saint Louis Community College is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Bridgeton.

After completing their Associate Degree, culinary arts graduates from Saint Louis Community College carry an average student debtload of $9,079.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Saint Louis Community College

#8

Butler Community College

El Dorado, KS

Butler Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Plains States Region list. Butler CC is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of El Dorado.

The average amount in student loans that culinary arts majors at Butler CC take out while working on their Associate Degree is $15,471.

Full Culinary Arts at Butler Community College Report

Western Iowa Tech Community College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree culinary arts programs. Western Iowa Tech Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Sioux City.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Western Iowa Tech Community College

Best Culinary Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best culinary arts colleges for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 96
Missouri 87
Minnesota 125
South Dakota 3
Iowa 200
North Dakota 4
Nebraska 130

One of 4 majors within the trade school area of study, culinary arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Culinary Arts Focus Areas

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

Majors Similar to Culinary Arts

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 9 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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