Montgomery County Community College Culinary Arts (Associate's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Associate's in Culinary Arts and Related Services
- Public college
- Blue Bell, PA
- About 11 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Montgomery County Community College culinary arts graduates earn more than graduates of most culinary arts programs nationally, $31,763 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $15,417 in federal loans, close to the national median of $15,750. It is one of the higher-paying culinary arts degrees in Pennsylvania.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Pennsylvania and national columns are the medians across all culinary arts associate's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Pennsylvania culinary arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Pennsylvania medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $163 a month, or 6.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the Philadelphia area are about 3% above the national average, so a $31,763 salary here buys what about $30,972 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to culinary arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Cooks, Restaurant
$36,580Median pay in Pennsylvania. 54,100 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 218,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: no formal educational credential, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
$43,050Median pay in Pennsylvania. 35,560 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 171,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Bartenders
$28,420Median pay in Pennsylvania. 37,490 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 121,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: no formal educational credential.
Buyers and Purchasing Agents
$73,550Median pay in Pennsylvania. 17,430 people work in this job in Pennsylvania. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Montgomery County Community College
Culinary Arts ranks 8th of 12 associate's programs at Montgomery County Community College by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($78,511), Dental Hygiene and Assisting ($49,729), and Accounting ($48,832).
Other culinary arts associate's programs near Blue Bell
Common questions
The median graduate earns $31,763 one year after graduating. The median across culinary arts associate's programs in Pennsylvania is $25,893.
The median federal loan balance is $15,417, which ranks 3rd lowest of 5 culinary arts associate's programs in Pennsylvania. That works out to about $163 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 49% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 63%.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Pennsylvania comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the culinary arts program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024