Find Trade Colleges

Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

16 Colleges
$21,190 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$30,980 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Bachelor's Degree School for You

In 2021-2022, 22,075 people earned a degree or certificate in culinary arts, making the major the #11 most popular in the United States.

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. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house.

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 Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 16 schools in the United States to see which bachelor's 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 Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States

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

Top 10 Best Culinary Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

#1

Universidad del Este

Carolina, PR

Our analysis found Universidad del Este to be the best value school for culinary arts students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the United States. Located in the large suburb of Carolina, UNE is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UNE are $6,920 a year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, culinary arts graduates from UNE carry an average student debtload of $14,361.

Read More…

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend National Louis University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Chicago, NLU is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NLU are $14,244 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, NLU is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Culinary Arts Bachelor’s Degree Trade Schools list.

Read More…

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Culinary Institute of America. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. The Culinary Institute of America is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Hyde Park.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at The Culinary Institute of America are $36,620 a year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, culinary arts graduates from The Culinary Institute of America carry an average student debtload of $25,016.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Culinary Institute of America

#4

Nicholls State University

Thibodaux, LA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Nicholls State University is a great value for culinary arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the small city of Thibodaux, Nicholls State University is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Nicholls State University undergraduate students pay an average of $9,249 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Nicholls State University

#5

SUNY Delhi

Delhi, NY

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means SUNY Delhi is a great value for culinary arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. SUNY Delhi is a small public school located in the town of Delhi.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SUNY Delhi are $12,490 per year.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at SUNY Delhi

The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College are $23,550 a year. While working on their Bachelor's Degree, culinary arts majors at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College accumulate an average of around $27,701 in student debt. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $792, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read More…

Southern New Hampshire University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for culinary arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the midsize suburb of Manchester, SNHU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SNHU are $15,380 a year.

Full Culinary Arts at Southern New Hampshire University Report

With a ranking of #8, AI Miami International University of Art and Design did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Miami, International Fine Arts College is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at International Fine Arts College are $20,794 a year. Culinary Arts majors at International Fine Arts College take out an average of $30,299 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at AI Miami International University of Art and Design

With a ranking of #9, Pennsylvania College of Technology did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Penn College is a small public school located in the small city of Williamsport.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Penn College are $25,680 a year.

Full Culinary Arts at Pennsylvania College of Technology Report

The Art Institute of Dallas landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree culinary arts programs. The Art Institute of Dallas is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Dallas.

The Art Institute of Dallas undergraduate students pay an average of $20,794 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their Bachelor's Degree, culinary arts majors at The Art Institute of Dallas accumulate an average of around $30,299 in student debt.

Read More…

Culinary Arts by Region

View the Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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 16 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.

Featured Schools

Find Trade Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited trade schools across the U.S.