CULINARY SCHOOLS IN NEW JERSEY — Federal Data, September 2026
Culinary Schools in New Jersey, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
3 accredited institutions in New Jersey report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 3 ranked programs in New Jersey, the median graduate needs 5.9 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $12,900, against median earnings of $29,123 one year after completion.
That is faster than the national median of 6.4 months for this field, measured across the 88 institutions in our national culinary schools ranking. The best performer in the state is Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing, at 4.2 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on New Jersey institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about culinary schools in New Jersey
The Ranking
3 culinary schools in New Jersey, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlantic Cape Community CollegeMays Landing, NJ | Public | Associate | 4.2 | $11,000 | $31,639 | 30% |
| 2 | Hudson County Community CollegeJersey City, NJ | Public | Associate | 5.9 | $12,900 | $26,170 | 26% |
| 3 | Eastwick College-HackensackHackensack, NJ | for-profit | Associate | 9.3 | $22,522 | $29,123 | 43% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback programs in New Jersey, one by one
Atlantic Cape Community College
Mays Landing, NJ
Atlantic Cape Community College is a public institution in Mays Landing. Its culinary arts graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,000 and report median earnings of $31,639 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 4.2 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 1.7 months faster than the New Jersey state median of 5.9. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 30% completion rate.
Hudson County Community College
Jersey City, NJ
Hudson County Community College is a public institution in Jersey City. Its culinary arts graduates leave with a median federal debt of $12,900 and report median earnings of $26,170 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.9 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and right on the New Jersey state median of 5.9. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 26% completion rate.
Eastwick College-Hackensack
Hackensack, NJ
Eastwick College-Hackensack is a private for-profit institution in Hackensack. Its culinary arts graduates leave with a median federal debt of $22,522 and report median earnings of $29,123 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 9.3 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 3.4 months slower than the New Jersey state median of 5.9. The award measured here is an associate degree. The institution reports a 43% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
With only 3 institutions publishable here, this page is a short list by construction. It is not a directory of every school in New Jersey: many programs, especially at institutions that do not take federal student aid, never appear in this data at all.
Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.
The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
Other Programs in New Jersey
Comparing a different trade in New Jersey
For NEW JERSEY School Operators
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