Career Training Path › Culinary & pastry schools › New Mexico
Culinary & pastry schools in New Mexico
New Mexico has 8 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in New Mexico, expect to start around $43,370–$48,540 and reach a median of $62,250 with experience; the top quarter earn $83,260 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, New Mexico). Graduates of these New Mexico programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $21,957 in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in New Mexico
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 770 employed in New Mexico. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in New Mexico, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: AlbuquerqueCrownpointLas CrucesRanchos de TaosRoswellRuidosoSanta Fe
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central New Mexico Community College | Albuquerque | Public | 68 | $21,957 | not reported | 31% | not reported |
| Santa Fe Community College | Santa Fe | Public | 16 | not reported | not reported | 23% | not reported |
| Navajo Technical University | Crownpoint | Public | 11 | not reported | not reported | not reported | not reported |
| New Mexico State University-Dona Ana | Las Cruces | Public | 8 | not reported | not reported | 19% | not reported |
| Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell Campus | Roswell | Public | 6 | not reported | not reported | 32% | not reported |
| Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute | Albuquerque | Public | 5 | not reported | not reported | 14% | not reported |
| Eastern New Mexico University Ruidoso Branch Community College | Ruidoso | Public | 4 | not reported | not reported | 29% | not reported |
| University of New Mexico-Taos Campus | Ranchos de Taos | Public | 1 | not reported | not reported | 30% | 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.