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Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools in California

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

4 Colleges
$1,392 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Basic Certificate School for You

Culinary Arts is the #16 most popular major in California with 1,378 degrees and certificates awarded in 2021-2022.

With all the trade school programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Trade College Search has developed this Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 4 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value basic certificate programs for culinary arts students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.


 

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for culinary arts majors pursuing a basic certificate.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for an Award Taking Less Than 1 Year in Culinary Arts

#1

Cerritos College

Norwalk, CA

Our analysis found Cerritos College to be the best value school for culinary arts students who want to pursue a basic certificate in California. Cerritos College is a large public school located in the suburb of Norwalk.

Cerritos College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,364 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Culinary Arts at Cerritos College Report

#2

Riverside City College

Riverside, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Riverside City College. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Basic Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the city of Riverside, Riverside City College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Riverside City College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,420 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Culinary Arts at Riverside City College Report

#3

CET, San Jose

San Jose, CA

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means CET, San Jose is a great value for culinary arts students working on their basic certificate. CET, San Jose is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Jose.

Full Culinary Arts at CET, San Jose Report

The excellent basic certificate programs at Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value culinary arts schools in California. Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the midsize city of Pasadena.

Full Culinary Arts at Institute of Culinary Education - Los Angeles Report

Best Value Culinary Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Culinary Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 342
Oregon 123
Nevada 74
Alaska 33
Hawaii 212

Culinary Arts is one of 4 different types of trade school programs to choose from.

Culinary Arts Concentrations

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 4 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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