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Culinary & pastry schools in Arkansas
Arkansas has 6 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in Arkansas, expect to start around $33,500–$39,430 and reach a median of $46,170 with experience; the top quarter earn $64,970 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Arkansas). Graduates of these Arkansas programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $21,128 in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in Arkansas
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 880 employed in Arkansas. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in Arkansas, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: BentonvilleMelbourneNewportNorth Little RockRussellvilleWest Memphis
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College | North Little Rock | Public | 124 | $21,128 | $17,953 | 36% | not reported |
| NorthWest Arkansas Community College | Bentonville | Public | 92 | not reported | not reported | 31% | not reported |
| Ozarka College | Melbourne | Public | 22 | not reported | not reported | 47% | not reported |
| Arkansas State University-Newport | Newport | Public | 11 | not reported | not reported | 46% | not reported |
| Arkansas Tech University | Russellville | Public | 3 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Arkansas State University Mid-South | West Memphis | Public | 1 | not reported | not reported | 58% | not reported |
Earnings are median wages and self-employment income reported to the IRS (W-2 and Schedule SE) for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled, measured in the calendar year after finishing. They are pay only: health insurance, retirement contributions and other benefits are not included.
Ranked by median earnings of this program's graduates one year after completion (College Scorecard field-of-study, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 2022-23 Completions survey; College Scorecard June 2026; Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs (DAPIP), September 2026); campuses without a reported figure follow, by credentials awarded. "Program debt" is the median federal loan debt for graduates of this program at this campus. Completion is the campus-wide 150%-of-time rate. "Not reported" means the federal file suppresses the value for privacy.