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Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Texas

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Texas

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

19 Colleges
$10,344 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$25,389 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree School for You

In 2021-2022, 1,430 degrees and certificates were awarded to culinary arts students who went to a Texas college or university. This makes it the #12 most popular major in the state.

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 Texas ranking. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in Texas 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. 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.

Top 10 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools

#1

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

Our analysis found El Centro College to be the best value school for culinary arts students who want to pursue a associate degree in Texas. Located in the large city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at El Centro College are $4,050 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, culinary arts graduates from El Centro College carry an average student debtload of $9,985.

El Centro College also made our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in Texas list, coming in at #2.

Full Culinary Arts at El Centro College Report

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#2

Lee College

Baytown, TX

Out of the 19 schools in Texas that were part of this year’s ranking, Lee College landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Baytown, Lee College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Lee College undergraduate students pay an average of $3,882 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Lee College also made our Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in Texas list, coming in at #4.

Full Culinary Arts at Lee College Report

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Jacinto Community College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Texas list. Located in the suburb of Pasadena, San Jacinto College is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jacinto College are $3,240 per year.

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The excellent associate degree programs at Tarrant County College District helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value culinary arts schools in Texas. Tarrant County College is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Fort Worth.

Tarrant County College undergraduate students pay an average of $3,402 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Culinary Arts at Tarrant County College District Report

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#5

Grayson College

Denison, TX

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Grayson College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Texas list. Located in the rural area of Denison, Grayson College is a public school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Grayson College are $4,132 per year.

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#6

Del Mar College

Corpus Christi, TX

Del Mar College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Texas list. Located in the large city of Corpus Christi, DMC is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

DMC undergraduate students pay an average of $4,880 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#7

South Plains College

Levelland, TX

South Plains College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Texas ranking. Located in the distant town of Levelland, South Plains College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at South Plains College are $4,473 a year.

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Houston Community College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Texas ranking. Houston Community College is a very large public school located in the large city of Houston.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Houston Community College are $4,344 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, culinary arts graduates from Houston Community College carry an average student debtload of $19,775.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Houston Community College

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El Paso Community College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree culinary arts programs. Located in the city of El Paso, El Paso Community College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

El Paso Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $3,274 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Culinary Arts at El Paso Community College Report

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#10

Kilgore College

Kilgore, TX

With a ranking of #10, Kilgore College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Kilgore College is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Kilgore.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Kilgore College are $4,056 per year.

Full Culinary Arts at Kilgore College Report

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Best Value Culinary Arts Colleges in the Southwest Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 376
Oklahoma 332
New Mexico 109

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 19 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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