With some 1400 culinary programs in existence in the U.S. and Canada, the competition for culinary students is very vigorous.

Because there is no predicting what kind of person would like to become a chef or work in the restaurant industry, reaching prospective students can be very inefficient for schools.

We help bring schools and prospective students together in an efficient way. And when we do, schools may compensate us for making the student referral to them. This is called ‘lead generation’ and it is how this website--and virtually all other independent intermediary websites--is funded.

We are an independent website dedicated to providing as much information as possible to help you make an informed decision. A culinary education costs a lot of money. We think you should examine your options thoroughly.

Not every school listed here participates with us yet, although we hope they will soon. Schools CANNOT pay to be on our Top Ten List. That list is based entirely on a survey of 150 bona fide food editors, journalists and industry leaders.

In the future we may add to our “Next 30 or so” school listings, schools that financially support our website, although we are very selective in whom we choose to list.