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Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in the Southeast Region

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2023 Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in the Southeast Region

63 Colleges
$21,782 Avg Salary
$19,450 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Culinary Arts School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, culinary arts was ranked #11 in the country. In fact 19,784 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

With all the trade school programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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 the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 63 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones offered the best programs for trade school students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Culinary Arts Schools in the Southeast Region

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

Top 10 Best Culinary Arts Schools

Our analysis found Wake Technical Community College to be the best school for culinary arts students who want to pursue a degree in the Southeast Region . Located in the suburb of Raleigh, Wake Technical Community College is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Culinary Arts at Wake Technical Community College Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte is a great place for culinary arts students. JWU Charlotte is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Charlotte.

Full Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte Report

#3

Atlantic Technical College

Coconut Creek, FL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Atlantic Technical College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list. Atlantic Technical College is a small public school located in the suburb of Coconut Creek.

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Out of the 63 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Athens Technical College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the midsize city of Athens, Athens Technical College is a public school with a small student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lake Technical College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list. Lake Technical College is a small public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Eustis.

Full Culinary Arts at Lake Technical College Report

#6

Miami Dade College

Miami, FL

Miami Dade College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list. MDC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Miami.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Miami Dade College

Crescent City Bartending School ranked #7 on this year’s Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list. Crescent Schools is a small private for-profit school located in the city of New Orleans.

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Pinellas Technical College-Clearwater came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Pinellas Technical Education Center-Clearwater is a fairly small public school located in the large suburb of Clearwater.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Pinellas Technical College-Clearwater

#9

Stratford University

Fairfax, VA

Stratford University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best culinary arts programs. Stratford University is a small private for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Fairfax.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Stratford University

#10

Sullivan University

Louisville, KY

With a ranking of #10, Sullivan University did quite well on this year’s best schools for culinary arts students. Located in the large city of Louisville, Sullivan University is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Sullivan University

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Culinary Arts Trade Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Gwinnett Technical College Lawrenceville, GA
12 First Coast Technical College Saint Augustine, FL

Best Culinary Arts Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
South Carolina 215
Georgia 864
Arkansas 283
North Carolina 811
Florida 1,298
West Virginia 59
Louisiana 367
Virginia 357
Alabama 94
Kentucky 359
Tennessee 104
Mississippi 320

Culinary Arts is one of 4 different types of trade school programs to choose from.

Culinary Arts Concentrations

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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