Which Michigan culinary arts program has the lowest debt?

Baker College reports the lowest median federal debt, $12,000, with first-year pay of $25,204.

How much do culinary arts graduates earn in Michigan?

The median across 8 Michigan culinary arts associate's programs is $26,639 in the first year after graduating and $35,743 five years after.

How many culinary arts associate's programs are in Michigan?

8 Michigan programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Culinary Arts (Associate's) Programs in Michigan, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

8 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Associate's in Culinary Arts and Related Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Michigan culinary arts associate's program pays its graduates $26,639 in their first year, $319 more than the national median. Washtenaw Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($33,382), and Baker College the lowest median debt ($12,000).

Median first-year pay$26,639National $26,320

Median pay after 5 years$35,743National $33,858

Median federal debt$14,754National $15,750

Debt-to-earnings56%National 63%

All 8 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Washtenaw Community CollegeAnn Arbor · public	$33,382	$31,812	Not reported	Not reported
2	Schoolcraft Community College DistrictLivonia · public	$27,248	$35,743	$15,750	58%
3	Kalamazoo Valley Community CollegeKalamazoo · public	$26,843	Not reported	$14,382	54%
4	Ferris StateBig Rapids · public	$26,692	Not reported	$23,251	87%
5	Northwestern Michigan CollegeTraverse City · public	$26,586	$38,650	$14,199	53%
6	Baker CollegeOwosso · private nonprofit	$25,204	$37,278	$12,000	48%
7	Grand Rapids Community CollegeGrand Rapids · public	$24,473	$42,557	$15,125	62%
8	Macomb Community CollegeWarren · public	$20,701	$26,273	Not reported	Not reported

Washtenaw Community College and Macomb Community College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Michigan culinary arts program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Michigan medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Washtenaw Community College$33,382
Schoolcraft Community College District$27,248
Kalamazoo Valley Community College$26,843
Ferris State$26,692
Northwestern Michigan College$26,586

Lowest median debt

Baker College$12,000
Northwestern Michigan College$14,199
Kalamazoo Valley Community College$14,382
Grand Rapids Community College$15,125
Schoolcraft Community College District$15,750

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$36,980

Median pay in Michigan. 39,100 people work in this job in Michigan. 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.

Bottom 10%: $29,570Top 10%: $46,030

First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers

$37,940

Median pay in Michigan. 32,890 people work in this job in Michigan. 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.

Bottom 10%: $29,500Top 10%: $59,750

Bartenders

$36,780

Median pay in Michigan. 21,100 people work in this job in Michigan. 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.

Bottom 10%: $25,960Top 10%: $76,090

Buyers and Purchasing Agents

$75,900

Median pay in Michigan. 16,680 people work in this job in Michigan. 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.

Bottom 10%: $47,260Top 10%: $126,330

Common questions

Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor reports the highest median first-year pay, $33,382.

Culinary Arts (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked89 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Michigan rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the culinary arts associate's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024