Career Training Path › Culinary & pastry schools › Georgia
Culinary & pastry schools in Georgia
Georgia has 19 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in Georgia, expect to start around $43,300–$50,220 and reach a median of $66,230 with experience; the top quarter earn $90,350 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Georgia). Graduates of these Georgia programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $17,840 in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in Georgia
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 3,680 employed in Georgia. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in Georgia, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: AlbanyAmericusAthensAtlantaAugustaBrunswickClarkesvilleColumbusGainesvilleGriffinLawrencevilleMariettaRomeSavannahStatesboroValdostaWacoWarner Robins
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helms College | Augusta | non-profit | 124 | $22,584 | $12,715 | 36% | not reported |
| South Georgia Technical College | Americus | Public | 57 | $13,609 | not reported | 61% | not reported |
| Central Georgia Technical College | Warner Robins | Public | 79 | not reported | not reported | 47% | not reported |
| Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | Valdosta | Public | 74 | not reported | not reported | 50% | not reported |
| Savannah Technical College | Savannah | Public | 61 | not reported | not reported | 43% | not reported |
| Gwinnett Technical College | Lawrenceville | Public | 49 | not reported | not reported | 32% | not reported |
| Southern Crescent Technical College | Griffin | Public | 48 | not reported | not reported | 58% | not reported |
| West Georgia Technical College | Waco | Public | 47 | not reported | not reported | 35% | not reported |
| Atlanta Technical College | Atlanta | Public | 45 | not reported | not reported | 49% | not reported |
| Columbus Technical College | Columbus | Public | 31 | not reported | not reported | 27% | not reported |
| Georgia Northwestern Technical College | Rome | Public | 31 | not reported | not reported | 43% | not reported |
| Augusta Technical College | Augusta | Public | 24 | not reported | not reported | 31% | not reported |
| North Georgia Technical College | Clarkesville | Public | 21 | not reported | not reported | 39% | not reported |
| Lanier Technical College | Gainesville | Public | 19 | not reported | not reported | 34% | not reported |
| Athens Technical College | Athens | Public | 17 | not reported | not reported | 51% | not reported |
| Albany Technical College | Albany | Public | 11 | not reported | not reported | 42% | not reported |
| Ogeechee Technical College | Statesboro | Public | 11 | not reported | not reported | 43% | not reported |
| Chattahoochee Technical College | Marietta | Public | 6 | not reported | not reported | 38% | not reported |
| College of Coastal Georgia | Brunswick | Public | 6 | not reported | not reported | not reported | 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.