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Culinary Schools in New York City (2026-27)

By · Reviewed November 10, 2026 · Editorial policy

How much is culinary school in NYC? In 2026-27 it runs from free, at nonprofit job-training kitchens, to about $10,400–$10,900 for a two-year associate degree at CUNY Kingsborough Community College (our arithmetic, for New York residents), the cheapest degree in the city, and up to $46,950 for a day diploma at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). We count six credit programs in or just outside the five boroughs, plus four free training programs. There is no American Culinary Federation (ACF)-accredited program inside the five boroughs: the nearest are Hudson County Community College in Jersey City (accredited through June 2031) and Monroe University’s Culinary Institute of New York in New Rochelle (through December 2029).

We built this page school by school in November 2026, checking each college’s program pages, its published 2026-27 tuition schedule or catalog, and the ACF’s list of accredited programs. Where a school publishes only a per-credit or per-semester rate, we multiplied it out; those totals are marked “our arithmetic” or “about”. Knives, uniforms and lab fees are extra unless we say otherwise. For programs elsewhere in the state, including the Culinary Institute of America, see our New York culinary schools page.

Culinary programs in and near New York City
School Campus Programs (credential) 2026-27 cost ACF status
Hot Bread Kitchen, First Course NYC, Project Renewal, Emma’s Torch (non-credit) Manhattan and Brooklyn Job training, 5 weeks to 6 months Free; some pay a stipend or wages Not applicable
CUNY Kingsborough Community College Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn Culinary Arts AAS (Culinary or Baking & Pastry concentration); one-year certificate About $10,400–$10,900 for the AAS (NY residents); $19,200 tuition for non-residents Not accredited
LaGuardia Community College (CUNY) Long Island City, Queens Nutrition and Culinary Management AAS (Culinary Management option) $2,400 per semester (NY residents) Not accredited
New York City College of Technology (City Tech, CUNY) Downtown Brooklyn Hospitality Management AAS and Bachelor of Technology (culinary and pastry focus areas) $3,465 per semester (NY residents) Not accredited
Hudson County Community College, Culinary Arts Institute Jersey City, NJ Culinary Arts AAS (Baking and Pastry option); certificates About $28,113 for the AAS at the out-of-county rate New York residents pay (our estimate) Accredited through June 30, 2031
Monroe University, Culinary Institute of New York (CINY) New Rochelle, Westchester AAS Culinary Arts; AAS Baking & Pastry About $40,155 for the AAS Accredited through December 31, 2029
Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) Brookfield Place, Lower Manhattan Diplomas: Culinary Arts; Pastry & Baking Arts; Health-Centered Culinary Arts; Restaurant & Culinary Management $41,100–$46,950 (chef and pastry diplomas, all-in); $16,500 (management) Not accredited

Degrees and diplomas in the city

CUNY Kingsborough Community College: the cheapest degree

Kingsborough’s Culinary Arts AAS is a 60-credit, two-year degree with a Culinary Arts or a Baking & Pastry concentration, and there is also a one-year certificate. It includes over 600 hours of kitchen training, an on-campus restaurant and a required internship. At $2,400 a semester for full-time New York residents, four semesters plus CUNY’s mandatory fees come to about $10,400–$10,900 (our arithmetic). Non-residents pay $320 a credit, or $19,200 in tuition for 60 credits.

Who it suits: New York residents who want a degree for the least money. It is not ACF-accredited.

Institute of Culinary Education: the fastest route

ICE is a private career school at 225 Liberty Street in Brookfield Place. Its New York campus awards diplomas only. ICE’s catalog prices are “Total Institutional Charges” for programs starting on or after September 1, 2026, and include food, uniforms, knives, tools, books, the application fee and taxes:

  • Career Culinary Arts (642 hours, including a 210-hour externship): $46,950 on the 8-month day schedule, $43,950 on the evening or weekend schedule (10 to 11 months).
  • Career Pastry & Baking Arts (610 hours): $45,450 day, $41,100 evening or weekend.
  • Career Health-Centered Culinary Arts: $41,750.
  • Restaurant & Culinary Management: $16,500.

The day versus evening/weekend split is from ICE’s catalog; confirm your schedule’s price with admissions. ICE’s outcomes table (October 2024) reports 86% graduation and 74% in-field employment for Career Culinary Arts. ICE is not ACF-accredited.

Who it suits: career changers who want to cook professionally within a year, including those who need evening or weekend classes.

City Tech and LaGuardia: hospitality and management routes

City Tech, in Downtown Brooklyn, offers Hospitality Management as an associate degree and a Bachelor of Technology, with culinary and pastry focus areas; it suits people who want a bachelor’s degree with kitchen work in it. LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City has a Nutrition and Culinary Management AAS with a Culinary Management option: management training, not chef training.

ACF-accredited programs just outside the city

Hudson County Community College, Jersey City

Hudson County’s Culinary Arts Institute, at 161 Newkirk Street in Jersey City, holds ACF “Exemplary” accreditation through June 30, 2031 for its Culinary Arts AAS, its Baking and Pastry option and both certificates. The AAS includes a 600-hour externship in restaurants and hotels. Hudson’s board eliminated its out-of-state tuition rate in April 2024, so a New York resident pays the out-of-county rate: $376 a credit plus $90.55 a credit in fees and $30.10 a term to register. Assuming 60 credits (Hudson does not state the total), our estimate is about $28,113, before culinary lab charges, uniforms and the knife kit.

Monroe University’s Culinary Institute of New York, New Rochelle

Monroe’s culinary school is on its New Rochelle campus, not its main Bronx campus. The ACF accredits its associate degrees in Culinary Arts and in Baking and Pastry through December 31, 2029. The Culinary Arts AAS is 60 credits over four semesters, but on Monroe’s three-semester year full-time students can finish in under a year and a half. Tuition is $8,700 a semester for 2026-27, plus a $900 administrative fee and program fees; four semesters with fees and the knife or baking set come to about $40,155 (our arithmetic).

The Culinary Institute of America, for context

The CIA’s Hyde Park campus is about 90 miles north, so it is a move, not a commute; associate-degree tuition is about $79,020 before housing (our arithmetic, at $19,755 a semester).

What culinary school costs in New York City

Residency matters most at CUNY. Full-time New York State residents pay a flat $2,400 a semester at Kingsborough and LaGuardia and $3,465 at City Tech; non-residents pay by the credit ($320 at the community colleges, $620 at City Tech), which at Kingsborough doubles degree tuition from $9,600 to $19,200. ICE’s prices include food, uniforms and knives; at the colleges, budget for them separately (our Monroe estimate includes its knife or baking set).

Rent is the larger cost. HUD’s FY2026 Fair Market Rent (October 2025 to September 2026) for the New York metro area, which covers the five boroughs, is $2,529 a month for a studio and $2,655 for a one-bedroom. HUD’s Small Area estimate for ZIP 11235, around Kingsborough, is $2,480 for a studio; HUD’s Small Area estimate for ZIP 10281, around ICE, is $3,120. These are HUD benchmarks, not what you will pay. At the metro rate a year in a studio is about $30,348 (our arithmetic), close to three times the whole Kingsborough degree, so most students not living with family will need to work while they train.

Free and low-cost culinary training in New York City

First Course NYC is the city’s own program, run by NYC Small Business Services with Hot Bread Kitchen at Chelsea Market: eight weeks of free culinary training, then a paid, full-time apprenticeship in a restaurant kitchen, with the NYC Food Protection Certificate. Trainees get a $355 stipend and daily MetroCards. You must be 18 or older, a New York City resident, authorized to work in the U.S., registered for Selective Service if that applies, and earn no more than $50,000 a year, and you must attend an information session. The program runs four cohorts a year; the last 2026 cohort ends November 10, 2026, and 2027 dates were not posted when we checked.

Hot Bread Kitchen runs other cost-free programs for “individuals facing barriers to meaningful careers”: Culinary Fundamentals (five weeks, a $200 stipend, basic culinary and baking techniques), a six-week program for newly arrived Spanish-speaking New Yorkers with work authorization ($160 a week), and four weeks of front-of-house training ($150 a week).

Project Renewal’s Culinary Arts Training Program, at 200 Varick Street in Manhattan, is a free six-month program: kitchen training followed by a three-month internship in a professional kitchen, open to anyone interested in food-service careers. Information sessions run every Tuesday. It has run since 1995 and reports that 90% of graduates are still in their jobs after three months.

Emma’s Torch, at 345 Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, runs an 11-week paid apprenticeship for refugees, asylees and survivors of human trafficking. It reports a 92% job placement rate; the pay rate is not published.

Culinary jobs and pay in New York City

The New York metro area employs about 69,250 restaurant cooks. The city pays restaurants half of First Course NYC apprentices’ training wages for their first six weeks, and the nonprofits above place graduates in restaurant, catering and café jobs.

Job Jobs in the metro area Median pay U.S. median
Restaurant cooks 69,250 $43,740 $37,390
Bakers 16,560 $38,890 $37,160
Chefs and head cooks 20,010 $71,780 $62,470
Food service managers 10,000 $82,970 $69,390

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area.

Closed schools you may still see listed

  • International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute), SoHo: closed in 2020. ICE licensed its programs and hired many of its instructors; the two schools did not merge.
  • Natural Gourmet Institute: closed in 2019. ICE licensed its curriculum, which became ICE’s Health-Centered Culinary Arts diploma.
  • Art Institute of New York City (founded as The New York Restaurant School): closed in 2017.
  • Le Cordon Bleu: has had no U.S. campuses since 2017.

New York City culinary school FAQs

How much is culinary school in NYC?

About $10,400–$10,900 for a Kingsborough associate degree if you are a New York resident (our arithmetic), $41,100–$46,950 for an ICE chef or pastry diploma, and about $28,113 (Hudson County, Jersey City) or about $40,155 (Monroe, New Rochelle) for an ACF-accredited degree. First Course NYC, Hot Bread Kitchen and Project Renewal are free.

Is there a free culinary school in NYC?

Not a college, but First Course NYC, Hot Bread Kitchen and Project Renewal train for free, and Emma’s Torch pays its apprentices.

Are any culinary schools in NYC ACF-accredited?

No program inside the five boroughs is on the ACF list. The nearest accredited programs are Hudson County Community College in Jersey City and Monroe University’s Culinary Institute of New York in New Rochelle.

Where can I go to pastry school in New York City?

Kingsborough (Baking & Pastry concentration in its AAS), ICE (Career Pastry & Baking Arts, $41,100–$45,450), Hudson County (Baking and Pastry option, ACF-accredited) and Monroe (Baking & Pastry associate degree, ACF-accredited).

How do I become a chef in NYC?

Three common routes: free training plus a restaurant apprenticeship (First Course NYC), a diploma with an externship (ICE, 8 to 11 months), or a two-year degree (Kingsborough). Chefs and head cooks in the metro area earn a median $71,780.

Are there culinary schools in New York for international students?

We did not check which schools sponsor student visas, so ask admissions directly. ICE gives a $3,000 Out-of-Area discount to applicants who live more than 100 miles away, and First Course NYC requires U.S. work authorization.

Nearby and online options

Sources

What changed on this page

  • November 2026: new city guide.