Best degree programs for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria, ranked by enrollment
4 college programs and 233 schools train Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $37,450 median wage, 441,050 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
4 college programs at 233 schools train cooks, institution and cafeteria, graduating 6,189 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General. The job pays a median of $37,450 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About cooks, institution and cafeteria
Prepare and cook large quantities of food for institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or cafeterias.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
4 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 12.0500 | 4,439 | 71.7% | 153 | $25,404 | $13,000 |
| 2 | CIP 12.0505 | 1,230 | 19.9% | 56 | $25,404 | $13,000 |
| 3 | CIP 19.0505 | 333 | 5.4% | 30 | $32,286 | $25,275 |
| 4 | CIP 12.0508 | 187 | 3.0% | 13 | $25,404 | $13,000 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What cooks, institution and cafeteria earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $46,390 | 31,660 | 0.61× | 53 | 1,803 |
| Georgia | $35,090 | 8,220 | 0.59× | 17 | 504 |
| Colorado | $42,500 | 9,440 | 1.16× | 6 | 471 |
| Oklahoma | $29,270 | 10,790 | 2.23× | 10 | 355 |
| Virginia | $37,890 | 11,170 | 0.96× | 11 | 235 |
| Texas | $35,360 | 24,740 | 0.62× | 7 | 224 |
| Mississippi | $27,390 | 6,420 | 1.95× | 11 | 197 |
| Hawaii | $47,770 | 1,570 | 0.88× | 5 | 178 |
| Arizona | $39,660 | 7,170 | 0.78× | 7 | 162 |
| Wisconsin | $38,650 | 9,890 | 1.19× | 9 | 137 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | $46,570 | 1,190 | 0.84× | 2 | 128 |
| Illinois | $37,440 | 22,840 | 1.32× | 8 | 119 |
| North Carolina | $36,140 | 11,170 | 0.80× | 5 | 108 |
| Tennesseemoderate | $35,570 | 10,680 | 1.15× | 4 | 104 |
| Utahmoderate | $38,200 | 5,610 | 1.14× | 4 | 95 |
| Kansas | $31,950 | 7,570 | 1.86× | 5 | 85 |
| Ohio | $36,720 | 23,440 | 1.49× | 5 | 81 |
| New Mexico | $36,470 | 3,160 | 1.28× | 5 | 76 |
| Floridamoderate | $36,250 | 25,100 | 0.89× | 4 | 74 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $34,960 | 7,850 | 1.20× | 4 | 71 |
| Nevadalimited | $39,430 | 1,650 | 0.38× | 2 | 69 |
| Marylandlimited | $41,380 | 3,370 | 0.43× | 2 | 60 |
| Pennsylvania | $36,540 | 24,490 | 1.42× | 8 | 57 |
| Michiganmoderate | $36,870 | 13,500 | 1.08× | 4 | 49 |
| Louisianalimited | $25,490 | 5,740 | 1.05× | 1 | 47 |
| Arkansaslimited | $30,240 | 6,530 | 1.77× | 2 | 40 |
| West Virginialimited | $29,740 | 4,420 | 2.22× | 2 | 37 |
| Connecticutlimited | $46,120 | 4,500 | 0.94× | 2 | 33 |
| Massachusettsmoderate | $47,790 | 7,430 | 0.72× | 3 | 32 |
| Oregonmoderate | $44,520 | 7,150 | 1.28× | 3 | 26 |
| Iowalimited | $35,810 | 8,860 | 2.00× | 1 | 20 |
| New Yorkmoderate | $45,880 | 17,670 | 0.64× | 3 | 19 |
| Minnesotalimited | $43,460 | 7,890 | 0.94× | 1 | 14 |
| Nebraskalimited | $36,390 | 4,410 | 1.52× | 2 | 11 |
| Kentuckylimited | $31,550 | 11,540 | 2.03× | 1 | 10 |
| Indianalimited | $35,980 | 11,130 | 1.23× | 1 | 7 |
| New Jerseymoderate | $44,520 | 7,490 | 0.62× | 3 | 5 |
| South Dakotalimited | $36,730 | 2,120 | 1.63× | 1 | 5 |
| Alaskalimited | $48,580 | 1,430 | 1.55× | 1 | 4 |
| Wyominglimited | $36,940 | 1,570 | 1.97× | 2 | 2 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
- Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served.
- Rotate and store food supplies.
- Wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, or other cooking equipment.
- Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons.
- Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.
- Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.
- Direct activities of one or more workers who assist in preparing and serving meals.
Skills
- Monitoring3.1
- Speaking3.1
- Active Listening3.0
- Critical Thinking3.0
- Active Learning2.9
- Mathematics2.9
- Reading Comprehension2.9
- Learning Strategies2.8
Knowledge areas
- English Language3.6
- Food Production3.6
- Customer and Personal Service3.6
- Mathematics3.5
- Administration and Management3.3
- Production and Processing3.1
Abilities
- Oral Expression3.3
- Near Vision3.3
- Oral Comprehension3.1
- Deductive Reasoning3.1
- Category Flexibility3.1
- Information Ordering3.1
Core activities
- Getting Information4.0
- Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials3.9
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates3.8
- Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings3.8
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events3.8
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work3.8
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Cook
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 12.0500Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General
- 12.0505Food Preparation/Professional Cooking/Kitchen Assistant
- 12.0508Institutional Food Workers
- 19.0505Foodservice Systems Administration/Management
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Cook?+
No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General, which awarded 4,439 degrees in 2024-25, 71.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Cook?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Culinary Arts and Related Services, Foods. Together they graduate about 6,189 people a year.
How much do cooks, institution and cafeteria earn?+
The median is $37,450 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $28,480 at the 10th percentile to $49,670 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for cooks, institution and cafeteria growing?+
BLS projects a +2.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 69,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
233 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do cooks, institution and cafeteria work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Cook, School Cook, Dietary Cook, Cafeteria Cook among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 35-2012.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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