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Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools

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2023 Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools

93 Colleges

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate School for You

In 2021-2022, 22,075 people earned a degree or certificate in culinary arts, making the major the #11 most popular in the United States.

There are so many trade school programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Trade College Search has created its Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools ranking. This report analyzed 93 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best basic certificate programs for trade school students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools in the United States

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

Top 15% Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles to be the best school for culinary arts students who want to pursue a basic certificate in the United States. Located in the city of Pasadena, Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Institute of Culinary Education is a great place for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Institute of Culinary Education is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the city of New York.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Institute of Culinary Education

#3

Arizona Culinary Institute

Scottsdale, AZ

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Arizona Culinary Institute. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. Located in the city of Scottsdale, Arizona Culinary Institute is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Culinary Arts at Arizona Culinary Institute Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Boulder, Escoffier - Boulder is a private for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder

#5

Metro Technology Centers

Oklahoma City, OK

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Metro Technology Centers. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. Located in the large city of Oklahoma City, Metro Technology Centers is a public school with a small student population.

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#6

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

El Centro College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for culinary arts students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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Chippewa Valley Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for culinary arts students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the small city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Chippewa Valley Technical College

Madison Area Technical College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. Located in the city of Madison, Madison College is a public school with a large student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Madison Area Technical College

#9

Cerritos College

Norwalk, CA

Cerritos College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Norwalk, Cerritos College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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Clover Park Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for culinary arts students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the city of Lakewood, CPTC is a public college with a small student population.

Full Culinary Arts at Clover Park Technical College Report

Pickens Technical College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. Located in the city of Aurora, Pickens Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Pickens Technical College

North Shore Community College came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Danvers, North Shore Community College is a public school with a small student population.

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#13

Saint Paul College

Saint Paul, MN

Saint Paul College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for culinary arts students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #13 on the list. Saint Paul College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Saint Paul.

Full Culinary Arts at Saint Paul College Report

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Culinary Arts students that almost earned our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Austin Austin, TX
15 Gateway Technical College Kenosha, WI
16 Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC
17 CET, San Jose San Jose, CA
18 Emily Griffith Technical College Denver, CO

Culinary Arts by Region

View the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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

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 25 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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