Program Payoff

Culinary Arts and Related Services programs in Washington

31 schools in Washington teach this, at certificate or associate level. 3 of them report what graduates earn two years out; the highest is $31,851 at Bellingham Technical College.

What this work pays in Washington

Cooks, Restaurant in Washington earn a median of $46,800 a year across 35,140 jobs. That is what the occupation pays everyone in it — not what graduates of any one program below earned.

Also leads toMedianJobs in Washington
First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$59,40020,700
Bartenders$55,83016,800
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria$49,6709,780
Bakers$46,1406,270
Chefs and Head Cooks$76,0105,320

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

Schools

SchoolCredentialMedian debtGraduate earnings, 2 yrsGraduates
Bellingham Technical College Bellingham Associate's degree $31,851 (11 grads) 17
Spokane Community College Spokane Associate's degree $31,038 (16 grads) 19
Clark College Vancouver Associate's degree $25,774 (14 grads) 13
Bates Technical College Tacoma Undergraduate certificate not published 4
Bates Technical College Tacoma Associate's degree not published 4
Bellingham Technical College Bellingham Undergraduate certificate not published 14
Clark College Vancouver Undergraduate certificate not published 13
Clover Park Technical College Lakewood Undergraduate certificate not published 13
Clover Park Technical College Lakewood Associate's degree not published 18
Edmonds College Lynnwood Undergraduate certificate not published 4
Edmonds College Lynnwood Associate's degree not published 6
Grays Harbor College Aberdeen Undergraduate certificate not published 0
Highline College Des Moines Undergraduate certificate not published 0
Lake Washington Institute of Technology Kirkland Undergraduate certificate not published 12
Lake Washington Institute of Technology Kirkland Associate's degree not published 14
Olympic College Bremerton Undergraduate certificate not published 0
Olympic College Bremerton Associate's degree not published 3
Peninsula College Port Angeles Undergraduate certificate not published 0
Renton Technical College Renton Undergraduate certificate not published 5
Renton Technical College Renton Associate's degree not published 3
Seattle Central College Seattle Undergraduate certificate not published 18
Seattle Central College Seattle Associate's degree not published 55
Skagit Valley College Mount Vernon Undergraduate certificate not published 3
Skagit Valley College Mount Vernon Associate's degree not published 7
South Puget Sound Community College Olympia Undergraduate certificate not published 6
South Puget Sound Community College Olympia Associate's degree not published 5
South Seattle College Seattle Undergraduate certificate not published 2
South Seattle College Seattle Associate's degree not published 16
Spokane Community College Spokane Undergraduate certificate not published 13
Walla Walla Community College Walla Walla Undergraduate certificate not published 0
Walla Walla Community College Walla Walla Associate's degree not published 10

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.