Career Training Path › Culinary & pastry schools › New Jersey
Culinary & pastry schools in New Jersey
New Jersey has 12 accredited campuses awarding culinary credentials. If you finish and work as a chef in New Jersey, expect to start around $49,200–$59,860 and reach a median of $74,280 with experience; the top quarter earn $82,200 or more (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, New Jersey). Graduates of these New Jersey programs — every graduate, whatever job they took — earned a median of $26,352 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 Jersey
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; 9,100 employed in New Jersey. National median: $62,470.
Campuses in New Jersey, ranked by what their graduates earned
Cities: EdisonJersey CityLincroftMays LandingMount LaurelNewarkNewtonParamusPatersonRandolphToms RiverWest Windsor
| Campus | City | Type | Grads / yr | Earnings, yr 1 | Program debt | Completion | Cost / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brookdale Community College | Lincroft | Public | 18 | $30,348 | not reported | 30% | not reported |
| Atlantic Cape Community College | Mays Landing | Public | 28 | $26,352 | $11,000 | 30% | not reported |
| Hudson County Community College | Jersey City | Public | 54 | $25,638 | $11,500 | 26% | not reported |
| Passaic County Community College | Paterson | Public | 25 | not reported | not reported | 19% | not reported |
| Ocean County Vocational-Technical School | Toms River | Public | 15 | not reported | not reported | 65% | $17,400 |
| County College of Morris | Randolph | Public | 11 | not reported | not reported | 36% | not reported |
| Middlesex College | Edison | Public | 11 | not reported | not reported | 33% | not reported |
| Rowan College at Burlington County | Mount Laurel | Public | 11 | not reported | not reported | 36% | not reported |
| Mercer County Community College | West Windsor | Public | 9 | not reported | not reported | 25% | not reported |
| Bergen Community College | Paramus | Public | 4 | not reported | not reported | 21% | not reported |
| New Community Career & Technical Institute | Newark | non-profit | 3 | not reported | not reported | 54% | $13,701 |
| Sussex County Community College | Newton | Public | 1 | not reported | not reported | 37% | 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.