2024 Best Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region
If you pursue a associate degree in
culinary arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #23 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 20 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for culinary arts students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 820 associate degrees in culinary arts to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Culinary Arts School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of culinary arts for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality culinary arts program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Early-Career Salaries
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on culinary arts students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other culinary arts students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for culinary arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized culinary arts related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for culinary arts students working on their associate degree.
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 Culinary Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list to help you make the college decision.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Culinary Arts in the Southwest Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in culinary arts.
10 Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Culinary Arts
It is difficult to beat El Centro College if you want to pursue an associate degree in culinary arts. Located in the city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public college with a very large student population.
Culinary Arts associate degree recipients from El Centro College get an earnings boost of about $3,388 over the average income of culinary arts majors.
More information about a associate in culinary arts from El Centro College
Any student who is interested in an associate degree in culinary arts has to look into Houston Community College. Houston Community College is a very large public college located in the large city of Houston.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the culinary arts program make around $20,663 for their early career.
More information about a associate in culinary arts from Houston Community College
Any student who is interested in an associate degree in culinary arts needs to look into Lee College. Lee College is a moderately-sized public college located in the small city of Baytown.More information about a associate in culinary arts from Lee College
Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in culinary arts has to check out St Philip's College. St Philip's College is a fairly large public college located in the large city of San Antonio.
Soon after graduating, culinary arts associate recipients usually make an average of $25,289 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a associate in culinary arts from St Philip’s College
Located in the large suburb of Pasadena, San Jacinto College is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in culinary arts from San Jacinto Community College
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