2022 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Culinary Arts is the 80th most popular major in the country with 21,906 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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 Colorado, there were 1,721 culinary arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $26,100 and $17,054 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 205 culinary arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,269 and $19,040 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the culinary arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado

The colleges and universities below are the best for colorado associate degree culinary arts students.

Top 3 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts in Colorado

#1

Pikes Peak Community College

Colorado Springs, Colorado

#2 in overall quality

$10,336 Average Net Price

$27,729 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado that were part of this year’s ranking, Pikes Peak Community College landed the #1 spot on the list. Pikes Peak Community College is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 48 associates’s culinary arts degrees to qualified students.

PPCC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for Pikes Peak Community College is $10,336 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students.

Read more about Culinary Arts at Pikes Peak Community College

#2

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado

#3 in overall quality

$15,569 Average Net Price

$23,182 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado that were part of this year’s ranking, Colorado Mesa University landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Grand Junction, Colorado, this medium-sized public school handed out 12 degrees to qualified associates’s culinary arts students in 2019-2020.

Colorado Mesa not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” list. It costs about $15,569 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students per year to attend Colorado Mesa.

Read more about Culinary Arts at Colorado Mesa

#3

Johnson & Wales University - Denver

Denver, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$26,221 Average Net Price

$27,999 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools for an Associate in Colorado that were part of this year’s ranking, Johnson & Wales University - Denver landed the #3 spot on the list. Johnson & Wales University - Denver is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Denver, Colorado. It awarded 80 associates’s culinary arts degrees in 2019-2020.

JWU Denver not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for Johnson & Wales University - Denver is $26,221 for Colorado Associate Degree Culinary Arts students.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Johnson & Wales University - Denver Culinary Arts Report

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts in the Rocky Mountains Region
• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Culinary Arts

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to U.S. Army Europe Images.

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