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Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region

2023 Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region

15 Colleges

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate 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. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Trade College Search has developed this Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 15 schools in the Great Lakes Region 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 Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Colleges.

Top 10 Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Chippewa Valley Technical College to be the best school for culinary arts students who want to pursue a basic certificate in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the small city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

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Out of the 15 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Madison Area Technical College landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Madison, Madison College is a public school with a large student population.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Gateway Technical College is a great place for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Gateway Technical College is a moderately-sized public school located in the midsize suburb of Kenosha.

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#4

Lake Land College

Mattoon, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lake Land College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Lake Land College is a small public school located in the distant town of Mattoon.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Fox Valley Technical College is a great place for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. FVTC is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Appleton.

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Cincinnati State Technical and Community 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. Cincinnati State is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Cincinnati.

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#7

Ivy Tech Community College

Indianapolis, IN

Ivy Tech Community 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. Ivy Tech Community College is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Indianapolis.

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#8

Schoolcraft College

Livonia, MI

Schoolcraft College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the small city of Livonia, Schoolcraft College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#9

Joliet Junior College

Joliet, IL

Joliet Junior College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Joliet Junior College is a large public school located in the suburb of Joliet.

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With a ranking of #10, Milwaukee Area Technical College did quite well on this year’s best schools for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. MATC is a large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.

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Best Culinary Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best culinary arts schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 413
Indiana 181
Wisconsin 333
Ohio 305
Illinois 668

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 15 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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