Johnson & Wales University-Providence

Private · Moderately Selective · RI

Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationRI · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads3,868

Student:faculty14:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate39.3%

6-yr grad rate55.4%

Drop-out rate18%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$42k

Out-of-state tuition$42k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity41.3%

Gender diversity62.5%

International2.6%

Identity—

Overview

Johnson & Wales in Providence began as a business school and grew into a career-focused university, best known nationally for culinary arts. It occupies a downtown and harborside footprint in one of New England's most food-centered cities, and the culinary identity still shapes the university's broader culture even as its program offerings have expanded well beyond food.

Academics

Culinary arts, baking and pastry, and hospitality management are the signature programs and among the most recognized in the country in their field, taught with heavy hands-on kitchen and lab time rather than a lecture-heavy format. Business, criminal justice, and design programs have grown alongside the culinary school, all sharing JWU's career-focused, experiential approach.

Campus & student life

The Providence campus is split across downtown and harborside locations, giving students access to a genuine restaurant and food-industry city as an extension of their coursework. Culinary students gain hands-on kitchen experience as a routine part of the curriculum rather than an add-on.

Getting in

Admission emphasizes fit and career direction over academic selectivity, and applicants to culinary and hospitality programs benefit from demonstrating real interest in the field, sometimes through prior kitchen or hospitality experience.

After graduation

Culinary and hospitality graduates place into restaurants, hotel groups, and food-industry companies nationally, supported by a large and well-connected alumni network in the food and hospitality world specifically, unusually deep for a school of its size.

jwu.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate88.4%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 890–1160 · ACT 22–27

Test policyoptional

Rec letters—

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying