2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
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
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 large city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at El Centro College are $6,000 a 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.
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 small city of Baytown, Lee College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Lee College are $4,302 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Lee College also did well on our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
The excellent basic certificate programs at Chippewa Valley Technical College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value culinary arts schools in the United States. Located in the small city of Eau Claire, CVTC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
CVTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,793 in tuition and fees each year.
CVTC 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.
A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Clover Park Technical College is a great value for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. 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.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southeast Community College Area. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the large city of Lincoln, Southeast Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Southeast Community College are $3,864 a year.
Full Culinary Arts at Southeast Community College Area Report
Madison Area Technical College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Madison, Madison College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Madison College are $6,812 per 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.
With a ranking of #7, Saint Paul College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. Saint Paul College is a medium-sized public school located in the large 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.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Saint Paul 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.
Athens Technical College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools ranking. Athens Technical College is a small public school located in the midsize city of Athens.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Athens Technical College are $5,462 a year.
Read full report on Culinary Arts at Athens Technical College
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 large suburb of Lawrenceville, GTC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at GTC are $5,686 per year.
Read full report on Culinary Arts at Gwinnett Technical College
Gateway Technical College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools ranking. Gateway Technical College is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Kenosha.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Gateway Technical College are $6,917 a year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Gateway Technical College also did well on our Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Trade Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
South Plains 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 #11 on the list. Located in the town of Levelland, South Plains College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
South Plains College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,857 in tuition and fees each year.
West Georgia 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 #12 on the list. 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.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools ranking. Georgia Northwestern Technical College is a medium-sized public school located in the 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.
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 |
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 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.
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More about our data sources and methodologies.
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