Career Training Path › Culinary & pastry schools › Montana
Culinary & pastry schools in Montana
Montana has 4 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in Montana, expect to start around $38,200–$48,890 and reach a median of $57,470 with experience; the top quarter earn $72,020 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Montana). Graduates of these Montana programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $24,154 in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in Montana
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 720 employed in Montana. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in Montana, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: BozemanKalispellMiles CityMissoula
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flathead Valley Community College | Kalispell | Public | 3 | $24,154 | not reported | 29% | not reported |
| The University of Montana | Missoula | Public | 8 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Montana State University | Bozeman | Public | 7 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| Miles Community College | Miles City | Public | 1 | not reported | not reported | 62% | 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.