Career Training Path › Culinary & pastry schools › Colorado
Culinary & pastry schools in Colorado
Colorado has 8 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in Colorado, expect to start around $46,330–$58,220 and reach a median of $65,400 with experience; the top quarter earn $79,420 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Colorado). Graduates of these Colorado programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $26,698 in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in Colorado
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 3,970 employed in Colorado. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in Colorado, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: AuroraBoulderColorado SpringsDenverGlenwood SpringsGrand JunctionLakewoodPueblo
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder | Boulder | for-profit | 3,662 | $26,698 | $9,150 | 48% | $16,885 |
| Pikes Peak State College | Colorado Springs | Public | 49 | $26,520 | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Colorado Mesa University | Grand Junction | Public | 48 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Red Rocks Community College | Lakewood | Public | 30 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Colorado Mountain College | Glenwood Springs | Public | 27 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Pickens Technical College | Aurora | Public | 23 | not reported | not reported | 76% | not reported |
| Pueblo Community College | Pueblo | Public | 23 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Emily Griffith Technical College | Denver | Public | 21 | not reported | not reported | 97% | $13,995 |
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.