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Best Value Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

2023 Best Value Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

33 Colleges
$8,226 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$26,556 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree School for You

With 149,352 degrees and certificates handed out in 2021-2022, personal & culinary services is the #2 most popular major in the United States.

Today's trade school students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Trade College Search has created the Best Value Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 33 schools in the Southwest Region to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for personal & culinary services students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for personal & culinary services majors pursuing a associate degree.

Top 10 Best Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools

#1

Lee College

Baytown, TX

Our analysis found Lee College to be the best value school for personal & culinary services students who want to pursue a associate degree in the Southwest Region . Located in the small city of Baytown, Lee College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lee College are $4,302 per year.

Lee College also claimed a spot on our Best Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Personal & Culinary Services at Lee College Report

#2

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

The excellent associate degree programs at El Centro College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value personal & culinary services schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the large 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 made our Best Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Trade Schools in the Southwest Region list, coming in at #4.

Read More…

#3

Amarillo College

Amarillo, TX

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Amarillo College is a great value for personal & culinary services students working on their associate degree. Amarillo College is a medium-sized public school located in the medium-sized city of Amarillo.

Amarillo College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,704 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Personal & Culinary Services at Amarillo College

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Houston Community College is a great value for personal & culinary services students working on their associate degree. Houston Community College is a very large public school located in the large city of Houston.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Houston Community College are $5,460 a year.

Full Personal & Culinary Services at Houston Community College Report

#5

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, TX

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Lone Star College System. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. North Harris Montgomery is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of The Woodlands.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at North Harris Montgomery are $6,456 per year.

Full Personal & Culinary Services at Lone Star College System Report

San Jacinto Community College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the large suburb of Pasadena, San Jacinto College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at San Jacinto College are $5,040 a year.

Read full report on Personal & Culinary Services at San Jacinto Community College

#6

South Plains College

Levelland, TX

South Plains College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree personal & culinary services programs. Located in the town of Levelland, South Plains College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at South Plains College are $4,857 per year.

Read full report on Personal & Culinary Services at South Plains College

#8

Grayson College

Denison, TX

Grayson College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the rural area of Denison, Grayson College is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Grayson College are $5,692 per year.

Full Personal & Culinary Services at Grayson College Report

#9

Del Mar College

Corpus Christi, TX

Del Mar College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Personal & Culinary Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the large city of Corpus Christi, DMC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at DMC are $5,990 a year.

Read More…

Central New Mexico Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for personal & culinary services students to get a associate degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the city of Albuquerque, CNM is a public college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CNM are $7,978 per year.

Read full report on Personal & Culinary Services at Central New Mexico Community College

Best Personal & Culinary Services Colleges by State

Explore the best personal & culinary services colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 3,080
Texas 12,596
New Mexico 1,065
Oklahoma 1,910

Personal & Culinary Services Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Cosmetology 124,611
Culinary Arts 22,075
Funeral & Mortuary Science 2,186
Casino Operations and Services 385
Other Personal & Culinary Services 95

Majors Similar to Personal & Culinary Services

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanic & Repair Technologies 105,741
Precision Production 55,411
Construction Trades 40,802
Transportation & Materials Moving 33,306

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.

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