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2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
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.
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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
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 college with a medium-sized student population.
UNE undergraduate students pay an average of $6,920 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, culinary arts graduates from UNE carry an average student debtload of $14,361.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend National Louis University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 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 moderately-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NLU are $14,244 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, NLU also did well on our Best Culinary Arts Bachelor’s Degree Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Culinary Institute of America helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value culinary arts schools in the United States. The Culinary Institute of America is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Hyde Park.
The Culinary Institute of America undergraduate students pay an average of $36,620 in tuition and fees each 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
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Nicholls State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value culinary arts schools in the United States. 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.
Out of the 16 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, SUNY Delhi landed the # 5 spot on the list. SUNY Delhi is a small public school located in the town of Delhi.
SUNY Delhi undergraduate students pay an average of $12,490 in tuition and fees each year.
The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Philadelphia, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College are $23,550 per 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.
Full Culinary Arts at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College Report
Southern New Hampshire University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree culinary arts programs. Located in the suburb of Manchester, SNHU is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SNHU are $15,380 per year.
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.
Full Culinary Arts at AI Miami International University of Art and Design Report
Pennsylvania College of Technology 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 #9 on the list. Penn College is a small public school located in the city of Williamsport.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Penn College are $25,680 per year.
Read full report on Culinary Arts at Pennsylvania College of Technology
The Art Institute of Dallas came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. The Art Institute of Dallas is a small private for-profit school located in the 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.
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 |
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 Majors Related to Culinary Arts
| 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.