Which Texas culinary arts program has the lowest debt?

Dallas College reports the lowest median federal debt, $9,218, with first-year pay of $30,484.

How much do culinary arts graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 7 Texas culinary arts certificate programs is $21,608 in the first year after graduating and $29,287 five years after.

How many culinary arts certificate programs are in Texas?

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

Culinary Arts (Certificate) Programs in Texas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

7 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Certificate in Culinary Arts and Related Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas culinary arts certificate program pays its graduates $21,608 in their first year, $110 less than the national median. Dallas College reports the highest first-year pay ($30,484), and Dallas College the lowest median debt ($9,218).

Median first-year pay$21,608National $21,718

Median pay after 5 years$29,287National $28,316

Median federal debt$10,111National $11,634

Debt-to-earnings47%National 46%

All 7 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	Dallas CollegeDallas · public	$30,484	Not reported	$9,218	30%
2	Remington College-Dallas CampusDallas · private nonprofit	$25,389	Not reported	$9,500	37%
3	Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-AustinAustin · private for-profit	$24,873	$28,704	$13,300	53%
4	Culinary School of Fort WorthFort Worth · private for-profit	$21,608	Not reported	$9,500	44%
5	Culinary InstituteHouston · private for-profit	$21,239	$30,990	$12,458	59%
6	Texas State Technical CollegeWaco · public	$21,144	$29,932	$10,721	51%
7	Texarkana CollegeTexarkana · public	$19,284	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Texarkana College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

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

Dallas College$30,484
Remington College-Dallas Campus$25,389
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Austin$24,873
Culinary School of Fort Worth$21,608
Culinary Institute$21,239

Lowest median debt

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

$34,760

Median pay in Texas. 126,620 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $23,330Top 10%: $42,810

First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers

$36,480

Median pay in Texas. 137,930 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $28,010Top 10%: $61,560

Bartenders

$22,690

Median pay in Texas. 59,000 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $16,200Top 10%: $65,300

Buyers and Purchasing Agents

$76,050

Median pay in Texas. 44,030 people work in this job in Texas. 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%: $47,760Top 10%: $124,140

Common questions

Dallas College in Dallas reports the highest median first-year pay, $30,484. Its median federal debt is $9,218.

Culinary Arts (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked56 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 Texas rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the culinary arts certificate 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