Find Trade Colleges
2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Illinois
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree 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.
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 Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 3 schools in Illinois 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.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Best Illinois Schools for Affordable Quality for an Associate in Culinary Arts
Our 2023 rankings named National Louis University the best value school in Illinois for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Chicago, NLU is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
NLU undergraduate students pay an average of $14,244 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, culinary arts graduates from NLU take out $13,165 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.
NLU also made our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #4.
Request Information
Out of the 3 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Joliet Junior College landed the # 2 spot on the list. Joliet Junior College is a large public school located in the large suburb of Joliet.
Joliet Junior College undergraduate students pay an average of $12,750 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, culinary arts graduates from Joliet Junior College carry an average student debtload of $13,611.
Request Information
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 #3 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Illinois list. Kennedy-King College is a small public school located in the large city of Chicago.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Kennedy-King College are $11,520 a year. While working on their Associate Degree, culinary arts majors at Kennedy-King College accumulate an average of around $8,350 in student debt.
Request InformationBest Value Culinary Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
Explore all the Best Value 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 |
Culinary Arts Related Majors for Culinary Arts
One of 4 majors within the trade school area of study, culinary arts has other similar majors worth exploring.
Culinary Arts Focus Areas
Most Popular Related Majors
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 3 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.