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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

Culinary Arts is the #11 most popular major in the country with 19,784 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

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 2023 rankings named Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles the best school in the United States for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Located in the medium-sized city of Pasadena, Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

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Out of the 93 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Institute of Culinary Education landed the # 2 spot on the list. Institute of Culinary Education is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

Full Culinary Arts at Institute of Culinary Education Report

#3

Arizona Culinary Institute

Scottsdale, AZ

The excellent basic certificate programs at Arizona Culinary Institute helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best culinary arts schools in the United States. Located in the midsize city of Scottsdale, Arizona Culinary Institute is a private for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts - Boulder. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. Located in the city of Boulder, Escoffier - Boulder is a private for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#5

Metro Technology Centers

Oklahoma City, OK

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Metro Technology Centers. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. Located in the large city of Oklahoma City, Metro Technology Centers is a public college with a small student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Metro Technology Centers

#6

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

El Centro College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. Located in the large city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at El Centro College

With a ranking of #7, Chippewa Valley Technical College did quite well on this year’s best schools for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Located in the small city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

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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 college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Madison Area Technical College

#9

Cerritos College

Norwalk, CA

Cerritos 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 #9 on the list. Located in the suburb of Norwalk, Cerritos College is a public school with a large student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Cerritos College

Clover Park Technical College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Lakewood, CPTC is a public college with a small student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Clover Park Technical College

Pickens 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 #11 on the list. Located in the city of Aurora, Pickens Technical College is a public school with a fairly small student population.

Full Culinary Arts at Pickens Technical College Report

North Shore Community College landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best basic certificate culinary arts programs. Located in the large suburb of Danvers, North Shore Community College is a public college with a small student population.

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#13

Saint Paul College

Saint Paul, MN

Saint Paul College landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best basic certificate culinary arts programs. Saint Paul College is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of Saint Paul.

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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
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 9,052
Baking & Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef 4,322
General Cooking & Related Culinary Arts 3,156
Restaurant, Culinary, & Catering Management/Manager 1,380
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant 801
Other Culinary Arts & Related Services 411
Culinary Science/Culinology 196
Bartending/Bartender 183
Institutional Food Workers 157
Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, & Dining Room Management/Manager 84
Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter 35
Wine Steward/Sommelier 7

Related Major Annual Graduates
Cosmetology 107,895
Funeral & Mortuary Science 2,354
Casino Operations and Services 192
Other Personal & Culinary Services 81

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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