Undergraduate certificate · Scottsdale, Arizona

Is Culinary Arts and Related Services at Arizona Culinary Institute worth it?

High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back slowly: graduates typically recover the cost in about 7.5 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $41,054; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $48,121; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $9,500; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $41k (likely $41k – $41k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $8k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in AZ; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 7.5 years (likely 5.6–11.0); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: −$12k (likely −$47k – $27k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $113k (likely $17k – $218k); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 82%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in: not reported / ≤ 20%; NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20