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Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

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2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

9 Colleges
$14,293 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$25,389 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree School for You

In 2021-2022, 327 degrees and certificates were awarded to culinary arts students who went to a Pennsylvania college or university. This makes it the #17 most popular major in the state.

There are so many trade school programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. 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 Pennsylvania ranking. Our analysis looked at 9 schools in Pennsylvania to see which associate degree programs offered the best value experiences for culinary arts students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

Check out the culinary arts associate degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Best Pennsylvania Schools for Affordable Quality for an Associate in Culinary Arts

Our 2023 rankings named Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus the best value school in Pennsylvania for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. IUP is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Indiana.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at IUP are $11,320 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, IUP is ranked #4 for overall quality for culinary arts in Pennsylvania.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Community College of Philadelphia is a great value for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Community College of Philadelphia is a fairly large public school located in the city of Philadelphia.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Community College of Philadelphia are $8,688 a year.

Read More…

Out of the 9 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Pennsylvania College of Technology landed the # 3 spot on the list. Penn College is a small public school located in the city of Williamsport.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Penn College are $17,940 a year.

Full Culinary Arts at Pennsylvania College of Technology Report

Out of the 9 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Montgomery County Community College landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Blue Bell, Montco is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Montco undergraduate students pay an average of $10,650 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#5

Jna Institute of Culinary Arts

Philadelphia, PA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Jna Institute of Culinary Arts. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Jna Institute of Culinary Arts is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Jna Institute of Culinary Arts are $14,575 per year. The average amount in student loans that culinary arts majors at Jna Institute of Culinary Arts take out while working on their Associate Degree is $12,690.

Read More…

Pittsburgh Technical College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree culinary arts programs. Pittsburgh Technical College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the rural area of Oakdale.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Pittsburgh Technical College are $16,974 per year.

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The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College undergraduate students pay an average of $23,550 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Culinary Arts majors at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College take out an average of $14,784 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $423, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Culinary Arts at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College Report

Northampton County Area Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Northampton Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of Bethlehem.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northampton Community College are $10,650 per year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #9, YTI Career Institute-York did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. YTI is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the suburb of York.

Culinary Arts majors at YTI take out an average of $17,224 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Full Culinary Arts at YTI Career Institute-York Report

Best Value Culinary Arts Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
New York 1,514
New Jersey 167
Maryland 153
Delaware 30

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 9 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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