Career Training Path › Culinary & pastry schools › Maine
Culinary & pastry schools in Maine
Maine has 5 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in Maine, expect to start around $48,430–$55,070 and reach a median of $57,010 with experience; the top quarter earn $63,060 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Maine). Graduates of these Maine programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $32,093 in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in Maine
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 1,250 employed in Maine. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in Maine, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: AuburnBangorFairfieldSouth PortlandWells
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Maine Community College | South Portland | Public | 4 | $32,093 | not reported | 28% | not reported |
| Central Maine Community College | Auburn | Public | 8 | not reported | not reported | 30% | not reported |
| Eastern Maine Community College | Bangor | Public | 8 | not reported | not reported | 32% | not reported |
| York County Community College | Wells | Public | 7 | not reported | not reported | 34% | not reported |
| Kennebec Valley Community College | Fairfield | Public | 6 | not reported | not reported | 39% | 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.