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Culinary & pastry schools in Alabama
Alabama has 6 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in Alabama, expect to start around $39,940–$50,900 and reach a median of $62,400 with experience; the top quarter earn $74,130 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, Alabama). Graduates of these Alabama programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of not reported in their first year, against $24,208 nationally; that is the figure used to rank campuses below.
What chefs and head cooks earn in Alabama
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 1,000 employed in Alabama. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in Alabama, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: BirminghamHancevilleHuntsvilleMobileMontgomeryTuscaloosa
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelton State Community College | Tuscaloosa | Public | 35 | not reported | not reported | 30% | not reported |
| H Councill Trenholm State Community College | Montgomery | Public | 29 | not reported | not reported | 16% | not reported |
| Lawson State Community College | Birmingham | Public | 14 | not reported | not reported | 27% | not reported |
| Bishop State Community College | Mobile | Public | 9 | not reported | not reported | 36% | not reported |
| George C Wallace State Community College-Hanceville | Hanceville | Public | 8 | not reported | not reported | 51% | not reported |
| J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College | Huntsville | Public | 4 | not reported | not reported | 14% | 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.