Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant maps to BLS occupations averaging about $46,910, with roughly 2,384,630 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $4,322; common paths include Food Preparation Workers and Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders.
Key Statistics
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant: what the data shows
Common questions about food preparation/professional cooking/kitchen assistant degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a food preparation/professional cooking/kitchen assistant degree?
A Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant program is classified under NCES CIP 12.0505 in the Culinary Arts and Related Services field family (12.05).
A program that prepares individuals to serve under the supervision of chefs and other food service professionals as kitchen support staff and commercial food preparation workers. Includes instruction in kitchen organization and operations, sanitation and quality control, basic food preparation and cooking skills, kitchen and kitchen equipment maintenance, and quantity food measurement and monitoring
Types of food preparation/professional cooking/kitchen assistant degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 12.05 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Baking and Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef (CIP 12.0501)
- Bartending/Bartender (CIP 12.0502)
- Culinary Arts & Related Services (CIP 12.0500)
- Culinary Arts/Chef Training (CIP 12.0503)
- Culinary Science/Culinology (CIP 12.0509)
- Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, and Dining Room Management/Manager (CIP 12.0507)
- Institutional Food Workers (CIP 12.0508)
- Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter (CIP 12.0506)
- Reserved (CIP 12.0580)
- Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager (CIP 12.0504)
- Wine Steward/Sommelier (CIP 12.0510)
How long does it take to get a food preparation/professional cooking/kitchen assistant degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 12.0505 in our file:
- 45 Associate (100.0% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Food Preparation Workers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a food preparation/professional cooking/kitchen assistant degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Food Preparation Workers | 888,770 | $34,220 |
| Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders | 27,660 | $40,550 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | 1,187,460 | $42,010 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | 89,580 | $34,830 |
| Food Batchmakers | 171,660 | $40,790 |
| Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders | 19,500 | $42,730 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a food preparation/professional cooking/kitchen assistant degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Culinary Arts and Related Services bachelor's program family: median debt $47,936, median earnings $47,668 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.62.
About 2.1% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $4,322 and median net price is $8,562.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$4,322 Median In-State Public
$17,036 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant majors are, on average, $4,322 for in-state public colleges, and $17,036 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 3 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 4 | Ivy Tech Community College | IN | 58,267 |
| 5 | Miami Dade College | FL | 46,182 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tohono O'odham Community College | AZ | $932 |
| 2 | Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute | NM | $1,095 |
| 3 | Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute | NM | $1,095 |
| 4 | Woodland Community College | CA | $1,124 |
| 5 | Woodland Community College | CA | $1,124 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 2 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 3 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
| 4 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
| 5 | Henry Ford College | MI | $660 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant programs across institutions.
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 12.05 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Baking and Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef CIP 12.0501
- Bartending/Bartender CIP 12.0502
- Culinary Arts & Related Services CIP 12.0500
- Culinary Arts/Chef Training CIP 12.0503
- Culinary Science/Culinology CIP 12.0509
- Food Service, Waiter/Waitress, and Dining Room Management/Manager CIP 12.0507
- Institutional Food Workers CIP 12.0508
- Meat Cutting/Meat Cutter CIP 12.0506
- Reserved CIP 12.0580
- Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager CIP 12.0504
- Wine Steward/Sommelier CIP 12.0510
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 12.0505 in the survey year used in our extract (45 total across levels below).
- 45 Associate (100.0% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $46,910. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Food Preparation Workers | $41,662 | 888,770 |
| Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders | $47,462 | 27,660 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers | $51,586 | 1,187,460 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $42,135 | 89,580 |
| Food Batchmakers | $44,127 | 171,660 |
| Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders | $47,051 | 19,500 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Culinary Arts and Related Services CIP family (3 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant graduate.
- $47,936 median federal loan debt among completers
- $47,668 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.62 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 2.1% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$46,910 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant majors is $46,910.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant majors.
Occupations by Share
2,384,630 2023 Workforce
The number of Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant.
Age distribution for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
1,052 Total Degrees Awarded
381 Male (36.22%)
671 Female (63.78%)
Gender distribution of Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
401 White (38.12%)
377 Black or African American (35.84%)
167 Hispanic or Latino (15.87%)
48 Two or More Races (4.56%)
13 Asian (1.24%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to serve under the supervision of chefs and other food service professionals as kitchen support staff and commercial food preparation workers. Includes instruction in kitchen organization and operations, sanitation and quality control, basic food preparation and cooking skills, kitchen and kitchen equipment maintenance, and quantity food measurement and monitoring
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant.
CIP Code
12.0505 - Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $47,936 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $47,668, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.62. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant graduate.
Women earned 63.8% of 1,052 Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $46,910. The largest mapped role by headcount is Food Preparation Workers (888,770 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,322 in-state at public colleges and $17,036 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.