Program Payoff

Culinary Arts and Related Services programs in Colorado

14 schools in Colorado teach this, at certificate or associate level. 3 of them report what graduates earn two years out; the highest is $26,353 at Pikes Peak State College.

What this work pays in Colorado

Cooks, Restaurant in Colorado earn a median of $41,600 a year across 30,600 jobs. That is what the occupation pays everyone in it — not what graduates of any one program below earned.

Also leads toMedianJobs in Colorado
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$50,55025,510
Bartenders$38,17017,000
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$42,5009,440
Bakers$40,6504,680
Chefs and Head Cooks$65,4003,970

Occupation wages: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

Schools

SchoolCredentialMedian debtGraduate earnings, 2 yrsGraduates
Pikes Peak State College Colorado Springs Associate's degree $26,353 (52 grads) 25
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder Boulder Undergraduate certificate $9,150 $25,967 (371 grads) 2,868
Colorado Mesa University Grand Junction Associate's degree $25,658 (22 grads) 12
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder Boulder Associate's degree $16,000 not published 770
Colorado Mesa University Grand Junction Undergraduate certificate not published 20
Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Springs Undergraduate certificate not published 12
Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Springs Associate's degree not published 8
Emily Griffith Technical College Denver Undergraduate certificate not published 36
Pickens Technical College Aurora Undergraduate certificate not published 21
Pikes Peak State College Colorado Springs Undergraduate certificate not published 25
Pueblo Community College Pueblo Undergraduate certificate not published 37
Pueblo Community College Pueblo Associate's degree not published 7
Red Rocks Community College Lakewood Undergraduate certificate not published 31
Red Rocks Community College Lakewood Associate's degree not published 1

A dash under earnings or debt means the U.S. Department of Education has not published a figure for that program — it withholds any median computed from too few graduates, which covers about four of every five programs. It never means zero, and it says nothing about whether the program is any good. Where a figure is shown, the number of graduates behind it is shown with it.

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The U.S. Department of Education publishes new cost, debt and earnings figures once a year, and every number on this page changes at once. One email when that happens for Culinary Arts and Related Services — nothing else, and nothing in between.

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Program and outcome figures: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, released 2026-06-10.