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Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

21 Colleges
$9,043 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$25,593 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree School for You

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

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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Trade College Search has created its Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 21 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for culinary arts students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Chippewa Valley Technical College the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

CVTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,683 in tuition and fees each year.

CVTC also claimed a spot on our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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 Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree 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.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Madison College are $6,769 a year. Culinary Arts majors at Madison College take out an average of $17,638 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Madison College also claimed a spot on our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Waukesha County Technical College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Pewaukee, WCTC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WCTC are $6,603 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, culinary arts graduates from WCTC carry an average student debtload of $16,964.

In addition to its great value ranking, WCTC is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Waukesha County Technical College

#4

Oakland Community College

Bloomfield Hills, MI

The excellent associate degree programs at Oakland Community College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value culinary arts schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the large suburb of Bloomfield Hills, Oakland Community College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Oakland Community College are $5,200 a year.

Full Culinary Arts at Oakland Community College Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Gateway Technical College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Gateway Technical College is a medium-sized public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Kenosha.

Gateway Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,803 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Fox Valley Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for culinary arts students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. FVTC is a large public school located in the midsize suburb of Appleton.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at FVTC are $6,861 a year.

FVTC also claimed a spot on our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Culinary Arts at Fox Valley Technical College Report

#7

Schoolcraft College

Livonia, MI

Schoolcraft College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree culinary arts programs. Located in the city of Livonia, Schoolcraft College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Schoolcraft College are $7,574 a year. On average, culinary arts graduates from Schoolcraft College take out $21,172 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Read More…

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Cincinnati State is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of Cincinnati.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cincinnati State are $9,090 per year.

Cincinnati State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read More…

Milwaukee Area Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for culinary arts students to get a associate degree. It came in at #9 on the list. MATC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Milwaukee.

MATC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,908 in tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that culinary arts majors at MATC take out while working on their Associate Degree is $21,618.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Milwaukee Area Technical College

With a ranking of #10, Kalamazoo Valley Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Located in the suburb of Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo Valley Community College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Kalamazoo Valley Community College are $8,502 a year. The average amount in student loans that culinary arts majors at Kalamazoo Valley Community College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $20,618.

Full Culinary Arts at Kalamazoo Valley Community 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 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

Majors Similar to Culinary Arts

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 21 schools only.

  • 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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