Colleges

Private for-profit · Community college

Institute of Culinary Education

Pasadena, California · Midsize city

0%
Transfer rate
—
Avg net price
77%
Grad / completion
$47,865
Median earnings

Institute of Culinary Education is a private for-profit certificate-granting institution in Pasadena, California (midsize city setting), enrolling 553 undergraduates. Admission is open to all applicants.

Private for-profitSmall · 553 undergradsMidsize cityNear the coast

About Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. The earliest known inhabitants of present-day Pasadena and its surroundings were members of the Hahamog-na tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation. They spoke the Tongva language, belonging to the Northern subfamily of the Uto-Aztecan language group. Pasadena is home to the Tournament of Roses Parade, held each year on January 1 (or on January 2, if the 1st falls on a Sunday). The first parade was held in 1890 and was originally sponsored by the Valley Hunt Club, a Pasadena social club. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Midsize city
Highest degree offered
Associate
To the ocean
22 miles
Nearest airport
13 miles to Hollywood Burbank/Bob Hope (BUR) · major hub

How Institute of Culinary Education compares

Graduation rate77%

Higher than 73% · #116 of 382 in California

First-year retention82%

Higher than 67%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$47,865

Higher than 88% · #53 of 326 in California

Median debt at graduation$6,439

Lower than 87%

Student–faculty ratio16 : 1

Lower than 49%

Undergraduate enrollment553

Larger than 64%

Percentiles compare Institute of Culinary Education with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in California.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

553undergrads
  • Women30355%
  • Men25045%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White28%
  • Black9.2%
  • Hispanic24%
  • Asian10%
  • Other or multiracial27%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
553
Student–faculty ratio
16 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
29%
First-generation students
44%
Students over 25
52%
Median family income
$27,450
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$48,177

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Outcomes

Graduated
77%
First-year retention
82%
Transferred to another college
0%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$36,663
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$47,865
Median debt at graduation
$6,439
Students with federal loans
45%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
68%

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing
No
Application fee
$85

Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.

Campus safety

Safety grade
A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students
0.0 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
0
Property offenses (2022–2024)
0

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (553 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Institute of Culinary Education funds essentially no grants of its own — almost all aid here comes from federal (Pell), state, or outside sources rather than the school's own discount. Its sticker price is what it is.

Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid, 2022–23 full-time first-year undergraduates.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years)
$47,865
Typical debt at graduation
$6,439
Debt vs. one year's pay
13%
Out-earn a HS grad
—

Typical debt would take roughly 1.3 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Strong value

Graduates here tend to earn well relative to what they borrow — typical debt pays back fast, and most out-earn a high-school graduate.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women
$45,789
Men
$49,798

Men out-earn women by $4,009 (9%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high
91°F
Winter low
45°F
Annual rain
20.1″

Average temperature

HighLow
40°70°100°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.02.65.2JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Pasadena, CA US station (0.4 mi from campus).

What Institute of Culinary Education graduates study — and earn

Culinary Arts and Related ServicesCert.
265 grads$23k 1 yr— 5 yr$7k debt
Culinary Arts and Related ServicesAssoc.
21 grads— 1 yr— 5 yr— debt

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

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Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Institute of Culinary Education side by side →

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Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.