Is a Culinary Arts and Related Services degree worth it?
Across 17 schools, graduates of Culinary Arts and Related Services earn a median $39,083 five years out on $27,000 of debt — most often working as Cooks, Restaurant. Every figure is a real, published federal number.
Median 5-yr pay
$39,083
Median debt
$27,000
Years to pay off
6.9
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
25%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+8.2%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
13.2%
$42,590 vs $36,970
Net price
$17,174/yr
Debt-test failures
86.7%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$16,037
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Culinary Arts and Related Services in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.