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Culinary Schools in Denver (2026-27)

By · Reviewed November 10, 2026 · Editorial policy

There are four credit culinary schools in and near Denver: Emily Griffith Technical College downtown, Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood, Pickens Technical College in Aurora and the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts campus in Boulder. The lowest all-in price is Emily Griffith’s Culinary Arts program, at $8,325 in tuition and fees for 952.5 hours; Pickens charges less per credit ($137 for residents), but it has published only 2025-26 rates. The only ACF-accredited programs in the metro are Escoffier Boulder’s four campus diplomas and associate degrees, accredited by the American Culinary Federation (ACF) through June 2030, at $20,757 to $41,795.

We built this page school by school in November 2026, checking each school’s program page, its published tuition for 2026-27 (or the latest year it has published, labelled where it is older) and the ACF’s list of accredited programs. Where a college publishes a per-credit rate rather than a program total, we multiplied it out; those totals are marked “our arithmetic” or “about”. Escoffier’s net price is the federal average after grants, as the school reports it. The Community College of Denver and Front Range Community College have no culinary program. For every program in the state, including Pikes Peak State College in Colorado Springs, see our Colorado culinary schools page.

Culinary programs in and near Denver
School Campus Programs (credential) 2026-27 cost ACF status
Emily Griffith Technical College Main Campus, 1860 Lincoln St., downtown Denver Culinary Arts (952.5-hour certificate) $8,325 tuition and fees (program total; current published price) Not accredited
Red Rocks Community College Lakewood (west metro) Culinary Arts AAS (62 credits, with a 6,000-hour paid registered apprenticeship); Culinary Arts certificate (47 credits); introduction certificate (5 credits) $183.75 per credit for Colorado residents with COF; AAS about $11,393; certificate about $8,636, before fees Not accredited (the apprenticeship is ACF-recognized)
Pickens Technical College Aurora (east metro) Culinary Arts certificate, including baking courses 2025-26 rates: $137 per credit for residents ($2,255 for 15 credits with the credit-hour fee) Not accredited
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts (private, for-profit) Boulder campus Culinary Arts and Pastry Arts diplomas (30 weeks); Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry AOS degrees (60 weeks) $20,757 per diploma; $41,795 per AOS degree (tuition, uniform and toolkit) Accredited, all four campus programs, through June 2030

Culinary programs in Denver and the suburbs

Culinary Arts (Emily Griffith Technical College, downtown)

Emily Griffith is the only credit culinary program inside the city. Its Culinary Arts program is 952.5 hours long, six months full-time or 11 months part-time, followed by an internship, and is taught at the Main Campus on Lincoln Street, home of the student-run Emily’s Cafe. The $8,325 covers tuition and fees, the program is eligible for federal financial aid, and up to 17 credits can transfer to MSU Denver if you later want a degree. It lists no baking course and does not claim ACF accreditation.

Who it suits: adults who want a fast route into professional kitchens at a known all-in price, without leaving central Denver.

Culinary Arts AAS with an apprenticeship (Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood)

Red Rocks offers three awards: a 5-credit introduction certificate, a 47-credit Culinary Arts certificate and a 62-credit Associate of Applied Science. The AAS is built around a 6,000-hour European-style apprenticeship, registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and recognized by the ACF, in which you work full time in an approved kitchen sponsored through the Rocky Mountain Chefs of Colorado and are paid for every hour. ACF recognition of the apprenticeship is not the same as ACF accreditation: Red Rocks’ culinary programs are not on the ACF’s accredited-program list.

Because 6,000 hours means full-time work, expect the AAS to take longer than a standard two-year degree; Red Rocks’ page does not state an exact length, so ask at one of its 2026 orientation sessions. Who it suits: people who need to earn while they learn and want a degree at the end.

Culinary Arts (Pickens Technical College, Aurora)

Pickens enrolls both high-school and adult students in its culinary program, which includes baking courses and a dietary baking course. Its tuition table for 2025-26 charges residents $137 per credit, or $2,255 for 15 credits including the credit-hour fee; non-residents pay $274 per credit. We found no 2026-27 table when we checked, and its program page gives no hours or program total, so ask for the current cost sheet. Who it suits: east-metro and Aurora residents looking for the lowest per-credit price.

The ACF-accredited option: Escoffier in Boulder

Culinary and pastry diplomas and AOS degrees (Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, Boulder)

Escoffier’s Boulder campus, founded in 1991 as the Cooking School of the Rockies and known as the Culinary School of the Rockies until 2010, offers 30-week diplomas in Culinary Arts and Pastry Arts at $20,757 each and 60-week Associate of Occupational Studies degrees in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry at $41,795 each. The price includes tuition, a uniform and a toolkit; textbooks are extra. The school reports an average net price of $13,130 after grants (2023-24, a figure that includes its online students). All four campus programs are ACF-accredited through June 2030; the ACF accreditation does not cover Escoffier’s online programs.

Escoffier Boulder’s accreditation is active; its last renewal was in January 2021, and the Department of Education’s accreditation database shows the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET) deferred action on the school twice, in December 2025 and September 2026, noting that “crucial information is missing and will be acquired in a short period.” A deferral is not a sanction, and ACCET defers a large share of renewal decisions, but it means the renewal was still open as of November 2026.

Getting there: RTD’s Flatiron Flyer buses run from Union Station in downtown Denver to Boulder; expect about an hour each way by RTD bus, and check RTD’s trip planner for your stop. Who it suits: students who want an ACF-accredited diploma in under a year and can pay private-school prices.

What culinary school costs in Denver

Red Rocks, like every Colorado Community College System college, charges $183.75 per credit in 2026-27 to Colorado residents who sign up for the Colorado Opportunity Fund (COF), a state stipend of $116 per credit; residents who do not apply pay $299.75. Non-residents pay $754.25 per credit, and students from other Western states may qualify for the Western Undergraduate Exchange rate of $275.60. At the COF rate the 62-credit AAS comes to about $11,393 in tuition before fees (our arithmetic). Emily Griffith’s $8,325 already includes fees; Escoffier’s prices include a uniform and toolkit. Budget separately for knives, books and course fees at the community colleges.

HUD’s FY2026 Fair Market Rent (October 2025 to September 2026) for the Denver-Aurora-Centennial metro area is $1,643 a month for a studio and $1,754 for a one-bedroom. Boulder is a separate metro, where the figures are $1,553 for a studio and $1,795 for a one-bedroom. A year in a Denver studio at that rate is about $19,716, more than double Emily Griffith’s whole program, so rent, not tuition, is the biggest cost for most students; Red Rocks’ paid apprenticeship is the one option here that pays you while you train.

Free and low-cost culinary training in Denver

Work Options (formerly Work Options for Women), at 1895 Quebec St. in east Denver, lists Culinary Job Training among its programs and describes its mission as training people from historically excluded backgrounds for culinary and hospitality careers. Its website does not give the program’s length, cost, eligibility or start dates, and its program page returned an error when we checked, so contact Work Options directly to confirm what it currently offers.

The Red Rocks apprenticeship is the metro’s registered culinary apprenticeship. You pay college tuition for the coursework, but you are paid for every hour you work in your sponsoring kitchen.

Culinary jobs and pay in Denver

Red Rocks apprentices are placed full time in approved kitchens sponsored through the Rocky Mountain Chefs of Colorado. Across the metro, about 15,410 people work as restaurant cooks, and food service managers earn a median well above the national figure.

Job Jobs in the metro area Median pay U.S. median
Restaurant cooks 15,410 $44,370 $37,390
Bakers 2,600 $42,490 $37,160
Chefs and head cooks 1,820 $66,970 $62,470
Food service managers 1,320 $79,490 $69,390

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO metropolitan area.

Closed schools you may still see listed

  • Johnson & Wales University–Denver: closed at the end of the 2020-21 school year, when the university shut its Denver and North Miami campuses.
  • The Art Institute of Colorado (Denver): closed at the end of 2018 after losing accreditation, along with 17 other Art Institutes. Its culinary program had run since 1993.
  • Le Cordon Bleu: never had a Colorado campus; all its U.S. campuses closed by September 2017.

Denver culinary school FAQs

What culinary schools are in Denver?

Emily Griffith Technical College is downtown, Red Rocks Community College is in Lakewood and Pickens Technical College is in Aurora. Escoffier’s campus is in Boulder. The Community College of Denver and Front Range Community College have no culinary program.

How much does culinary school cost in Denver?

Emily Griffith charges $8,325 in tuition and fees for its program. Red Rocks’ AAS is about $11,393 at the 2026-27 resident COF rate, before fees (our arithmetic), and Escoffier Boulder charges $20,757 for a diploma and $41,795 for an associate degree.

Is there a chef school in Denver where you get paid?

Yes. Red Rocks’ Culinary Arts AAS includes a 6,000-hour registered apprenticeship, paid for every hour, in a kitchen sponsored through the Rocky Mountain Chefs of Colorado.

Which culinary schools near Denver are ACF-accredited?

Only Escoffier Boulder’s four campus programs, through June 2030. Elsewhere in Colorado, Pikes Peak State College in Colorado Springs holds ACF accreditation with Exemplary status.

What is the Colorado Culinary Academy?

We found no school by that name. Searchers may mean Escoffier’s Boulder campus, which was called the Culinary School of the Rockies until 2010.

What happened to Johnson & Wales in Denver?

Johnson & Wales closed its Denver campus at the end of the 2020-21 school year. The Art Institute of Colorado closed at the end of 2018.

Nearby and online options

Sources

What changed on this page

  • November 2026: new city guide.