Louisiana Culinary Institute
For-profit College in Baton Rouge, LA. Six-year graduation rate 73%. Median 10-year earnings $40,359.
Ten-year median earnings of $40,359 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate of 73% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $16,200, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Louisiana Culinary Institute admits 38% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly three in five applicants are turned away. With 48 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. A 100% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Louisiana Culinary Institute →Academics
A 73% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention is strong at 95%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Transfer-out runs to 26% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 16:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 90 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $28,029 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Net price varies modestly by income — $26,507 at $0–30k against $29,898 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 54% of students receive grant aid, averaging $2,598 — common but not automatic. Borrowing is widespread: 69% take federal loans.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 21 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $26,507 |
| $30–48k | $26,743 |
| $48–75k | $28,644 |
| $75–110k | $30,079 |
| $110k+ | $29,898 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 62 of these 90 students, totalling $215,989 — an average of $3,484 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (East Baton Rouge Parish) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)