Find Trade Colleges

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

93 Colleges
$6,108 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Trade College Search has created the Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 93 schools in the United States to see which basic certificate 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 Basic Certificate Schools in the United States

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

Top 15% Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools

#1

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

Our 2023 rankings named El Centro College the best value school in the United States for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Located in the city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public school with a very large student population.

El Centro College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,000 in tuition and fees each year.

El Centro College also claimed a spot on our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at El Centro College

#2

Lee College

Baytown, TX

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Lee College is a great value for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Located in the city of Baytown, Lee College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Lee College are $4,302 a year.

Lee College also claimed a spot on our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Culinary Arts at Lee College Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Chippewa Valley Technical College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at CVTC are $6,793 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, CVTC also is in the top 5% of our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools ranking.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Chippewa Valley Technical College

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Clover Park Technical College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Lakewood, CPTC is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at CPTC are $5,979 a year.

Read More…

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Southeast Community College Area is a great value for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Located in the city of Lincoln, Southeast Community College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Southeast Community College are $3,864 a year.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Southeast Community College Area

Madison Area Technical College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the large city of Madison, Madison College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Madison College are $6,812 a year.

Madison College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Madison Area Technical College

#7

Saint Paul College

Saint Paul, MN

Saint Paul College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools ranking. Saint Paul College is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Saint Paul.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Saint Paul College are $6,318 a year.

Saint Paul College also claimed a spot on our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

With a ranking of #8, Athens Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Athens Technical College is a small public school located in the midsize city of Athens.

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

Read More…

#9

Gwinnett Technical College

Lawrenceville, GA

Gwinnett Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for culinary arts students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the suburb of Lawrenceville, GTC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

GTC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,686 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Gateway Technical College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools list. Gateway Technical College is a medium-sized public school located in the midsize suburb of Kenosha.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Gateway Technical College are $6,917 a year.

Gateway Technical College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Gateway Technical College

#11

South Plains College

Levelland, TX

South Plains College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the distant town of Levelland, South Plains College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

South Plains College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,857 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at South Plains College

West Georgia Technical College landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate culinary arts programs. West Georgia Technical College is a moderately-sized public school located in the rural area of Waco.

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

Read More…

Georgia Northwestern Technical College landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate culinary arts programs. Georgia Northwestern Technical College is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Rome.

Georgia Northwestern Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,512 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Georgia Northwestern Technical College also did well on our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Georgia Northwestern Technical College

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 Central Georgia Technical College Warner Robins, GA
15 Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Valdosta, GA
16 Arkansas State University - Newport Newport, AR
17 Southern Crescent Technical College Griffin, GA
18 Fox Valley Technical College Appleton, WI
18 Pickens Technical College Aurora, CO

Culinary Arts by Region

View the Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate 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 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.

Featured Schools

Find Trade Schools Near You

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