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2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

12 Ranked Colleges
1,160 Degrees Awarded
$6,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 21,906 people earned their degree in culinary arts, making the major the 80th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, culinary arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $23,822 and had an average of $19,004 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 1,160 culinary arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $25,336 and $20,786 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 12 colleges that offered a degree in culinary arts. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent culinary arts programs, but they also 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 culinary arts program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Culinary Arts Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid.

Top 12 Best Value Colleges for Culinary Arts in Illinois (With Aid)

#1

Moraine Valley Community College

Palos Hills, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Moraine Valley Community College. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. This fairly large school is located in Palos Hills, Illinois, and it awarded 31 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

MVCC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Moraine Valley Community College is $2,422 for illinois culinary arts students with aid.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at MVCC

#2

Elgin Community College

Elgin, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Elgin Community College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. ECC is a medium-sized school located in Elgin, Illinois that handed out 77 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

ECC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Elgin Community College is $4,185 for illinois culinary arts students with aid.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Elgin Community College

#3

Joliet Junior College

Joliet, Illinois

Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Joliet Junior College landed the #3 spot on the list. Joliet Junior College is a fairly large school located in Joliet, Illinois that handed out 66 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Joliet Junior College also took the #2 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Joliet Junior College is $4,693 for Illinois Culinary Arts students with aid.

Read more about Culinary Arts at Joliet Junior College

#4

College of Lake County

Grayslake, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend College of Lake County. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. College of Lake County is a fairly large school located in Grayslake, Illinois that handed out 107 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at College of Lake County, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for College of Lake County is $4,735 for Illinois Culinary Arts students with aid.

Full College of Lake County Culinary Arts Report

#5

Southwestern Illinois College

Belleville, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southwestern Illinois College. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. SWIC is a medium-sized public school situated in Belleville, Illinois. It awarded 14 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

SWIC also made our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $7,098 for Illinois Culinary Arts students with aid per year to attend SWIC.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Southwestern Illinois College

#6

Richland Community College

Decatur, Illinois

Richland Community College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Richland Community College is a small public school situated in Decatur, Illinois. It awarded 58 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Richland Community College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Richland Community College is $4,794 for illinois culinary arts students with aid.

Full Richland Community College Culinary Arts Report

#11 in overall quality

City Colleges of Chicago - Kennedy-King College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #7. City Colleges of Chicago - Kennedy-King College is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 96 ’s culinary arts degrees to qualified students.

Kennedy-King College also took the #11 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $5,709 for illinois culinary arts students with aid per year to attend City Colleges of Chicago - Kennedy-King College.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at City Colleges of Chicago - Kennedy-King College

#8

McHenry County College

Crystal Lake, Illinois

With a ranking of #8, McHenry County College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. MCC is located in Crystal Lake, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 15 ’s culinary arts degrees to qualified students.

MCC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for McHenry County College is $7,048 for Illinois Culinary Arts students with aid.

Full McHenry County College Culinary Arts Report

#9

National Louis University

Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #9, National Louis University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. NLU is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 68 ’s culinary arts degrees to qualified students.

NLU also took the #1 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $14,957 for illinois culinary arts students with aid per year to attend NLU.

Read more about Culinary Arts at National Louis University

#10

Triton College

River Grove, Illinois

Triton College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #10. Located in River Grove, Illinois, this medium-sized public school awarded 27 diplomas to qualified ’s culinary arts students in 2019-2020.

Triton College also took the #10 spot in our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $4,988 for illinois culinary arts students with aid per year to attend Triton College.

Read more about Culinary Arts at Triton College

#11

Rend Lake College

Ina, Illinois

With a ranking of #11, Rend Lake College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Rend Lake College is a small school located in Ina, Illinois that handed out 9 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

Rend Lake College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #12 on our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $5,636 for illinois culinary arts students with aid per year to attend Rend Lake College.

Read more about Culinary Arts at Rend Lake College

#12

Saint Augustine College

Chicago, Illinois

Saint Augustine College landed the #12 spot on the 2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. St. Augustine College is a small school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 6 ’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

St. Augustine College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Culinary Arts Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $12,193 for illinois culinary arts students with aid per year to attend St. Augustine College.

Read more about Culinary Arts at St. Augustine College

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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