College profile
Culinary Institute of America
NY · Private nonprofit · Large suburb · 2,161 applicants 2023
A parent's read
- Top feeder high schools: Downingtown HS West Campus (2), Avenues the World School (1), Greenwich High School (1), Notre Dame High School (0.5), Punahou School (0.5). Graduates per class year, from each high school's own published list. 22 high schools' lists name Culinary Institute of America; every one is ranked below.
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Feeder high schools
Which high schools send graduates to Culinary Institute of America?
The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Culinary Institute of America, from each school's own published list: Downingtown HS West Campus (2), Avenues the World School (1), Greenwich High School (1), Notre Dame High School (0.5), Punahou School (0.5). 22 high schools' lists name Culinary Institute of America.
Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists
All 22 schools, with the class years each list covers
How this is counted
22 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Culinary Institute of America on it. Between them they printed 25 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Culinary Institute of America, from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.
Is my high school on this list?
Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists
All 1 schools, with the class years each list covers
How this is counted
1 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name Culinary Institute of America on it. Between them they printed 1 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to Culinary Institute of America, from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.
All 23 feeder schools, ranked →
Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.
Parent/student verdict
AccessibleAccessible for most applicants.
Best for
- Students focused on Business, Management, & Marketing (the school's signature program)
- Families wanting a small undergraduate experience
The reality
- You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 970, or ACT below 17 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
What are your child's odds here?
Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.
Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.
Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
20% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 6% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
The real cost
What Culinary Institute of America actually costs
Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Culinary Institute of America's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.
Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.
Source: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.
What students study here
Most popular majors at Culinary Institute of America
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Culinary Institute of America actually graduates — not just what it markets.
What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Culinary Institute of America's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Culinary Arts and Related Services. | $61,944 |
| Hospitality Administration/Management. | $58,165 |
| Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other. | $48,525 |
Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →
Student body & economic mobility
Who attends here — and what the campus adds.
Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.
Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →
Alternatives to Culinary Institute of America
Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.
Or compare any college side-by-side
Deciding on Culinary Institute of America?
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Get your child's odds at Culinary Institute of America →Score-odds calculator · Improve the score first · Find merit aid
Related reading
States · October 2026
States · October 2026
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At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantCulinary Institute of America is a private nonprofit four-year college in NY. It admitted 92% of applicants (2,161 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 970–1195, ACT 17–25. 20% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 6% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
Cost: $58,790 a year at full price, before aid.
Median earnings ten years after entry: $47,475 a year.
Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Culinary Arts and Related Services ($61,944); Hospitality Administration/Management ($58,165); Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other ($48,525).
Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 5% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 29% of those reached the top fifth as adults.
High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Culinary Institute of America: 22, 25 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Downingtown HS West Campus (2.0 per class year, 2 over 1 class year, Class of 2024); Avenues the World School (1.0 per class year, 1 over 1 class year, CLASSES OF 2023–2026, counted column "CLASS OF 2026"); Greenwich High School (1.0 per class year, 1 over 1 class year, Class of 2026). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/culinary-institute-of-america.
High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming Culinary Institute of America: 1, 1 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often The TASIS School in Dorado (1.0 per class year, 1 over 1 class year, Class of 2026). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/culinary-institute-of-america.
Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/culinary-institute-of-america.json
Questions families ask
What is Culinary Institute of America's acceptance rate? Culinary Institute of America is a private nonprofit four-year college in NY. It admitted 92% of applicants (2,161 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
Does Culinary Institute of America require the SAT or ACT? Culinary Institute of America is a private nonprofit four-year college in NY. It admitted 92% of applicants (2,161 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.
What SAT or ACT scores do Culinary Institute of America students have? Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 970–1195, ACT 17–25. 20% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, 6% an ACT — these ranges describe students who submitted, not the whole class.
How much does Culinary Institute of America cost? Cost: $58,790 a year at full price, before aid.
What do Culinary Institute of America graduates earn? Median earnings ten years after entry: $47,475 a year.
Which majors at Culinary Institute of America pay the most? Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Culinary Arts and Related Services ($61,944); Hospitality Administration/Management ($58,165); Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other ($48,525).
Which high schools send the most graduates to Culinary Institute of America? The high schools sending the most graduates per class year to Culinary Institute of America, from each school's own published list: Downingtown HS West Campus (2), Avenues the World School (1), Greenwich High School (1), Notre Dame High School (0.5), Punahou School (0.5). 22 high schools' lists name Culinary Institute of America.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.