Best Chef programs in South Carolina, ranked by enrollment
Direct and may participate in the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of salads, soups, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foods.
8 schools in South Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 271 people a year. The job pays a median of $71,860 in South Carolina across about 2,650 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in South Carolina that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in South Carolina that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in South Carolina (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own South Carolina page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 12.0503In South Carolina → | 226 | 83.4% | 8 | $25,404 | $13,000 |
| 2 | CIP 12.0501In South Carolina → | 43 | 15.9% | 3 | $25,404 | $13,000 |
| 3 | CIP 12.0500In South Carolina → | 2 | 0.7% | 1 | $25,404 | $13,000 |
Top 8 schools in South Carolina
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 8 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trident Technical College Charleston, SC Public · 3 feeder programs | 143 | Culinary Arts/Chef Training | — | 30% | — | — |
| 2 | Horry - Georgetown Technical College Conway, SC Public · 2 feeder programs | 49 | Culinary Arts/Chef Training | $24,466 | 38% | — | — |
| 3 | Greenville Technical College Greenville, SC Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Culinary Arts/Chef Training | $26,268 | 21% | — | — |
| 4 | Technical College of the Lowcountry Beaufort, SC Public · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Culinary Arts/Chef Training | — | 18% | — | — |
| 5 | Bob Jones University Greenville, SC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Culinary Arts/Chef Training | — | 65% | $18,053 | — |
| 6 | Spartanburg Community College Spartanburg, SC Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Culinary Arts/Chef Training | — | 28% | — | — |
| 7 | Denmark Technical College Denmark, SC Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Culinary Arts/Chef Training | — | 13% | — | — |
| 8 | Northeastern Technical College Cheraw, SC Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Culinary Arts/Chef Training | — | 21% | — | — |
All 8 schools in South Carolina
Every school in South Carolina with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trident Technical College | Charleston | Public | 143 | 3 |
| Horry - Georgetown Technical College | Conway | Public | 49 | 2 |
| Greenville Technical College | Greenville | Public | 28 | 1 |
| Technical College of the Lowcountry | Beaufort | Public | 20 | 2 |
| Bob Jones University | Greenville | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| Spartanburg Community College | Spartanburg | Public | 13 | 1 |
| Denmark Technical College | Denmark | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Northeastern Technical College | Cheraw | Public | 2 | 1 |
What chefs and head cooks earn in South Carolina
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $62,470. South Carolina pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in South Carolina
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Chefs and Head Cooks page.
How to become a Chef
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in South Carolina
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Chefs and Head Cooks5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 12.0500Cooking and Related Culinary Arts, General
- 12.0501Baking and Pastry Arts/Baker/Pastry Chef
- 12.0503Culinary Arts/Chef Training
- 12.0504Restaurant, Culinary, and Catering Management/Manager
- 12.0509Culinary Science/Culinology
Common questions
Answers for people weighing chefs and head cooks programs in South Carolina.
What degree do you need to become a Chef?+
High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Culinary Arts/Chef Training, which awarded 226 degrees in South Carolina in 2024-25, 83.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Chef?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Culinary Arts and Related Services. Together they graduate about 271 people a year in South Carolina.
How much do chefs and head cooks earn in South Carolina?+
The median is $71,860 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 15.0% above the U.S. median of $62,470. 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 chefs and head cooks growing?+
BLS projects a +7.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 24,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in South Carolina?+
8 institutions in South Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 chefs and head cooks work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Chef, Sous Chef, Kitchen Manager, Executive Chef (Ex Chef) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 35-1011.
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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