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Most Popular Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California

46 Colleges
$25,389 Avg Salary
$15,195 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Trade College Search has created its Most Popular Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 46 schools in California to see which ones were the most popular associate degree programs for trade school students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Culinary Arts program at each school on the list.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for culinary arts majors pursuing a associate degree.

#1

Cerritos College

Norwalk, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Cerritos College the most popular school in California for culinary arts students working on their associate degree. Cerritos College is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Norwalk.

Of the 27 students majoring in culinary arts at Cerritos College, 33% are male and 67% are female.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Cerritos College

#2

Long Beach City College

Long Beach, CA

Out of the 46 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Long Beach City College landed the # 2 spot on the list. Long Beach City College is a very large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

About 64% of the students majoring in culinary arts at the school are women while 36% are male.

Full Culinary Arts at Long Beach City College Report

The in-demand associate degree programs at San Joaquin Delta College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular culinary arts schools in California. Delta is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Stockton.

Of the 18 students majoring in culinary arts at Delta, 50% are male and 50% are female.

Read More…

Out of the 46 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Los Angeles Trade Technical College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Trade Technical College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 82% of the students majoring in culinary arts at the school are women while 18% are male.

Read More…

#5

Orange Coast College

Costa Mesa, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Orange Coast College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California list. Orange Coast College is a fairly large public school located in the city of Costa Mesa.

Of the 22 students majoring in culinary arts at Orange Coast College, 23% are male and 77% are female.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Orange Coast College

Los Angeles Mission College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular associate degree culinary arts programs. Los Angeles Mission College is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of Sylmar.

About 80% of the students majoring in culinary arts at the school are women while 20% are male.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Los Angeles Mission College

#6

San Diego Mesa College

San Diego, CA

San Diego Mesa College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular associate degree culinary arts programs. Located in the city of San Diego, San Diego Mesa College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

About 75% of the students majoring in culinary arts at the school are women while 25% are male.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at San Diego Mesa College

#6

City College of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

City College of San Francisco did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for culinary arts students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. City College of San Francisco is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Francisco.

About 52% of the students majoring in culinary arts at the school are women while 48% are male.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at City College of San Francisco

#6

Chaffey College

Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Chaffey College ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California list. Chaffey College is a large public school located in the suburb of Rancho Cucamonga.

Of the 29 students majoring in culinary arts at Chaffey College, 48% are male and 52% are female.

Read More…

#10

Columbia College

Sonora, CA

Columbia College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for culinary arts students to get a associate degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Columbia Junior College is a small public school located in the rural area of Sonora.

About 67% of the students majoring in culinary arts at the school are women while 33% are male.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Columbia College

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional popular schools for Culinary Arts students in the state of California that almost earned our Most Popular Culinary Arts Associate Degree Trade Schools in California award.

Rank College Location

Best Culinary Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular 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 28 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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