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Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

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2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

47 Colleges
$6,724 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$25,389 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, culinary arts was ranked #11 in the country. In fact 22,075 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2021-2022.

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.

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 Southeast Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 47 schools in the Southeast Region 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.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for culinary arts majors pursuing a associate degree.

Top 10 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools

#1

Gwinnett Technical College

Lawrenceville, GA

Our 2023 rankings named Gwinnett Technical College the best value school in the Southeast Region for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. GTC is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Lawrenceville.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at GTC are $5,686 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Athens Technical College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Athens, Athens Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

Athens Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,462 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Athens Technical College also is in the top 15% of our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Athens Technical College

#3

Delgado Community College

New Orleans, LA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Delgado Community College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Delgado Community College is a fairly large public school located in the city of New Orleans.

Delgado Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,679 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their Associate Degree, culinary arts majors at Delgado Community College accumulate an average of around $24,673 in student debt.

Full Culinary Arts at Delgado Community College Report

The excellent associate degree programs at Georgia Northwestern Technical College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value culinary arts schools in the Southeast Region . Located in the small city of Rome, Georgia Northwestern Technical College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Georgia Northwestern Technical College are $5,512 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Georgia Northwestern Technical College also is in the top 10% of our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Wiregrass Georgia Technical College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the suburb of Valdosta, Wiregrass Georgia Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College are $5,562 a year.

Read More…

#6

Ogeechee Technical College

Statesboro, GA

Ogeechee Technical College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the distant town of Statesboro, Ogeechee Technical College is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Ogeechee Technical College are $5,540 a year.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Ogeechee Technical College

West Georgia Technical College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the rural area of Waco, West Georgia Technical College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at West Georgia Technical College are $5,522 per year.

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Southern Crescent Technical College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree culinary arts programs. Located in the suburb of Griffin, Southern Crescent Technical College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Southern Crescent Technical College are $5,526 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Southern Crescent Technical College is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southeast Region list.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Southern Crescent Technical College

With a ranking of #9, Savannah Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Savannah Tech is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Savannah.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Savannah Tech are $5,442 a year.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Savannah Technical College

Wake Technical Community 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 #10 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Raleigh, Wake Technical Community College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Wake Technical Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $8,912 in tuition and fees each year. Culinary Arts majors at Wake Technical Community College take out an average of $20,302 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Full Culinary Arts at Wake Technical Community College Report

Best Culinary Arts Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Georgia 864
South Carolina 215
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 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 25 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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