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Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in Illinois

2023 Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in Illinois

4 Colleges
$24,998 Avg Salary
$9,042 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Culinary Arts School for You

Culinary Arts is the #11 most popular major in Illinois with 668 degrees and certificates awarded in 2021-2022.

It's not easy to decide which trade school program to enroll in when you have so many options available. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Trade College Search has created the Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 4 schools in Illinois to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for trade school students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois

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

Top Illinois Trade Schools in Culinary Arts

Our analysis found National Louis University to be the best school for culinary arts students who want to pursue a degree in Illinois. Located in the large city of Chicago, NLU is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

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#2

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 #2 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in Illinois list. Lake Land College is a small public school located in the distant town of Mattoon.

Full Culinary Arts at Lake Land College Report

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#3

Joliet Junior College

Joliet, IL

Out of the 4 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Joliet Junior College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Joliet Junior College is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Joliet.

Full Culinary Arts at Joliet Junior College Report

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend City Colleges of Chicago - Kennedy-King College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in Illinois list. Kennedy-King College is a small public school located in the city of Chicago.

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Best Culinary Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Culinary Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 413
Indiana 181
Wisconsin 333
Ohio 305

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 4 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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