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Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

10 Colleges
$5,860 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$24,735 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Culinary Arts School for You

Culinary Arts is the #100 most popular major in the country with 19,806 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

The Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in the Plains States Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for culinary arts students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region

Check out the culinary arts programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Culinary Arts Schools

#1

Johnson County Community College

Overland Park, KS

Our 2023 rankings named Johnson County Community College the best value school in the Plains States Region for culinary arts students. Located in the midsize city of Overland Park, JCCC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at JCCC are $5,352 per year. On average, culinary arts graduates from JCCC take out $11,625 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read More…

#2

Saint Paul College

Saint Paul, MN
$6,041 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Saint Paul College. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region list. Saint Paul College is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Saint Paul.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Saint Paul College are $6,041 a year. On average, culinary arts graduates from Saint Paul College take out $19,381 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Culinary Arts at Saint Paul College Report

$3,780 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Southeast Community College Area is a great value for culinary arts students. Located in the large city of Lincoln, Southeast Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Southeast Community College are $3,780 a year. On average, culinary arts graduates from Southeast Community College take out $16,400 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Southeast Community College Area

$6,510 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Kansas City Kansas Community College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the city of Kansas City, Kansas City Kansas Community College is a public school with a small student population.

Kansas City Kansas Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,510 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Culinary Arts at Kansas City Kansas Community College Report

$10,440 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Des Moines Area Community College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the large suburb of Ankeny, DMACC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at DMACC are $10,440 a year. After completing their degree, culinary arts graduates from DMACC carry an average student debtload of $10,875.

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#6

Kirkwood Community College

Cedar Rapids, IA
$7,072 Average Tuition & Fees

Kirkwood Community College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids, Kirkwood Community College is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Kirkwood Community College are $7,072 per year. After completing their degree, culinary arts graduates from Kirkwood Community College carry an average student debtload of $16,250.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Kirkwood Community College

$4,826 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #7, Western Iowa Tech Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for culinary arts students. Western Iowa Tech Community College is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Sioux City.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Western Iowa Tech Community College are $4,826 per year. On average, culinary arts graduates from Western Iowa Tech Community College take out $9,930 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Western Iowa Tech Community College

$6,028 Average Tuition & Fees

Ozarks Technical Community College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value culinary arts programs. Located in the city of Springfield, OTC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

OTC undergraduate students pay an average of $6,028 in tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that culinary arts majors at OTC take out is $14,875.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Ozarks Technical Community College

#9

Butler Community College

El Dorado, KS
$5,976 Average Tuition & Fees

Butler Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for culinary arts students. It came in at #9 on the list. Butler CC is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of El Dorado.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Butler CC are $5,976 a year.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Butler Community College

#10

Saint Louis Community College

Saint Louis, MO
$7,155 Average Tuition & Fees

Saint Louis Community College came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Culinary Arts Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, Saint Louis Community College is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Saint Louis Community College are $7,155 per year. Culinary Arts majors at Saint Louis Community College take out an average of $10,125 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Culinary Arts at Saint Louis Community College

Best Culinary Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best culinary arts schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Missouri 67
Minnesota 40
Kansas 39
Iowa 85
Nebraska 66
North Dakota 4
South Dakota 2

One of 4 majors within the area of study, culinary arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Culinary Arts

Related Major Annual Graduates
Cosmetology 107,895
Funeral & Mortuary Science 2,354
Casino Operations and Services 192
Other Personal & Culinary Services 81

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 10 schools only.

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

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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