2022 Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 251 people earned their degree in food processing, making the major the 318th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, food processing graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $54,250 and had an average of $22,000 in loans still to pay off.

At the associate degree level specifically, there were 51 food processing graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,082 and $17,678 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in food processing. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great food processing programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the food processing program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The food processing school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate.

Top 3 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Food Processing

#1

Garden City Community College

Garden City, Kansas

#2 in overall quality

$4,795 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Garden City Community College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate. Garden City Community College is located in Garden City, Kansas and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 associates’s food processing degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our associate degree food processing students list, Garden City Community College has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Food Processing Associate Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $4,795 for associate degree food processing students per year to attend Garden City Community College.

Read full report on Food Processing at Garden City Community College

#2

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

Asheville, North Carolina

#3 in overall quality

$7,318 Average Net Price

$32,925 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate list. This medium-sized school is located in Asheville, North Carolina, and it awarded 12 associates’s food processing degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our associate degree food processing students list, A-B Tech has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Food Processing Associate Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College is $7,318 for Associate Degree Food Processing students.

Full Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College Food Processing Report

#3

Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute

Wooster, Ohio

#1 in overall quality

$17,608 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Food Processing Schools for an Associate list. Wooster, Ohio is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s food processing degrees to 13 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Food Processing Associate Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $17,608 for Associate Degree Food Processing students per year to attend Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Food Processing at Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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