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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 2023 rankings named Chippewa Valley Technical College the best school in the Great Lakes Region 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.

Full Culinary Arts at Chippewa Valley Technical College Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Madison Area Technical College. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large city of Madison, Madison College is a public college with a large student population.

Full Culinary Arts at Madison Area Technical College Report

Out of the 15 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Gateway Technical College landed the # 3 spot on the list. 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 join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Lake Land College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s 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.

Full Culinary Arts at Lake Land College Report

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 medium-sized suburb of Appleton.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Fox Valley Technical College

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 moderately-sized public school located in the large city of Cincinnati.

Full Culinary Arts at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Report

#7

Ivy Tech Community College

Indianapolis, IN

Ivy Tech Community College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Ivy Tech Community College is a very large public school located in the large city of Indianapolis.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Ivy Tech Community College

#8

Schoolcraft College

Livonia, MI

Schoolcraft College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best basic certificate culinary arts programs. Located in the city of Livonia, Schoolcraft College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

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#9

Joliet Junior College

Joliet, IL

With a ranking of #9, Joliet Junior College did quite well on this year’s best schools for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Joliet Junior College is a large public school located in the large suburb of Joliet.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Joliet Junior College

Milwaukee Area 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. MATC is a large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.

Full Culinary Arts at Milwaukee Area Technical College Report

Best Culinary Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best culinary arts colleges 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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