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2024 Best Culinary Arts Schools in North Carolina

12 Colleges in North Carolina
811 Culinary Arts Degrees Awarded
$24,933 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in culinary arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #97 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual reviewed 12 schools in North Carolina to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of culinary arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 811 degrees in culinary arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Culinary Arts School

Best Culinary Arts Schools in North Carolina Your choice of culinary arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for culinary arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Culinary Arts Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Culinary Arts
Bachelor's Degrees in Culinary Arts

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Culinary Arts Schools in North Carolina ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.


 

Best Schools for Culinary Arts in North Carolina

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the culinary arts degree levels they offer.

10 Top North Carolina Schools in Culinary Arts

1
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
206 Culinary Arts Degrees Awarded
1.5% Growth in Graduates

It is hard to beat Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte if you want to pursue a degree in culinary arts. JWU Charlotte is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Charlotte. A Best Colleges rank of #425 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means JWU Charlotte is a great university overall.

There were about 206 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at JWU Charlotte in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, culinary arts degree recipients usually make around $26,084 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte

2
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
122 Culinary Arts Degrees Awarded
$31,816 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in culinary arts has to take a look at Wake Technical Community College. Wake Technical Community College is a very large public college located in the large suburb of Raleigh. A Best Colleges rank of #693 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Wake Technical Community College is a great college overall.

There were about 122 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Wake Technical Community College in the most recent data year. Those culinary arts students who get their degree from Wake Technical Community College receive $6,883 more than the average culinary arts graduate.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Wake Technical Community College

3
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
85 Culinary Arts Degrees Awarded
61.2% Growth in Graduates

Central Piedmont Community College is a good choice for students interested in a degree in culinary arts. Located in the large city of Charlotte, Central Piedmont Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #931 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Central Piedmont Community College is a great college overall.

There were approximately 85 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Central Piedmont Community College in the most recent data year. After graduating, culinary arts degree recipients typically make about $24,931 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Central Piedmont Community College

4

Every student pursuing a degree in culinary arts needs to take a look at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. A-B Tech is a medium-sized public college located in the small city of Asheville. This college ranks 43rd out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were about 30 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at A-B Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the culinary arts program state that they receive average early career income of $26,819.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

5
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
21st Most Popular In NC

Located in the large suburb of Statesville, Mitchell Community College is a public college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1189 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Mitchell Community College is a great college overall.

There were approximately 8 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Mitchell Community College in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Mitchell Community College

6
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
13th Most Popular In NC

Central Carolina Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the town of Sanford. A Best Colleges rank of #1224 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Central Carolina Community College is a great college overall.

There were roughly 6 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Central Carolina Community College in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Central Carolina Community College

7
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
13th Most Popular In NC

Located in the distant town of Lumberton, Robeson Community College is a public college with a small student population. This college ranks 70th out of 93 colleges for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were roughly 5 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Robeson Community College in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Robeson Community College

8
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
52 Culinary Arts Degrees Awarded
28.8% Growth in Graduates

Located in the midsize suburb of Jamestown, Guilford Technical Community College is a public college with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1110 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Guilford Technical Community College is a great college overall.

There were roughly 52 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Guilford Technical Community College in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the culinary arts program earn about $21,045 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Guilford Technical Community College

9
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In NC

Located in the medium-sized city of Fayetteville, FTCC is a public college with a large student population. This college ranks 31st out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were approximately 28 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at FTCC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Fayetteville Technical Community College

10
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
13th Most Popular In NC
80.0% Growth in Graduates

Southwestern Community College is a small public college located in the distant town of Sylva. This college ranks 76th out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were roughly 15 culinary arts students who graduated with this degree at Southwestern Community College in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in culinary arts from Southwestern Community College

Best Culinary Arts Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Culinary Arts Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Georgia 287 192
Florida 282 298
Virginia 274 261
Tennessee 269 36
South Carolina 248 85
Kentucky 244 109
Louisiana 242 132
Mississippi 234 105
Arkansas 234 53
Alabama 233 64
West Virginia 207 33

View All Rankings >

Culinary Arts is one of 4 different types of Personal & Culinary Services programs to choose from.

Culinary Arts Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Culinary Arts/Chef Training 543
Baking & Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef 263
Institutional Food Workers 5

View All Culinary Arts Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Cosmetology 2,549
Funeral & Mortuary Science 141

View All Culinary Arts Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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