2023 Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Education Associate Degree School for You
With 327,871 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, education is the #4 most popular major in the United States.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 17 schools in the Southwest Region to see which associate degree programs offered the best value experiences for education students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Education Associate Degree Schools
Our analysis found Santa Fe Community College to be the best value school for education students who want to pursue a associate degree in the Southwest Region . SFCC is a small public school located in the small suburb of Santa Fe.
SFCC undergraduate students pay an average of $4,995 in tuition and fees each year.
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Out of the 17 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, El Centro College landed the # 2 spot on the list. El Centro College is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Dallas.
El Centro College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,000 in tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, El Centro College is ranked #3 for overall quality for education in the Southwest Region .
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The excellent associate degree programs at Lone Star College System helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value education schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the city of The Woodlands, North Harris Montgomery is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at North Harris Montgomery are $6,168 a year.
North Harris Montgomery excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend South Texas College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. South Texas College is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of McAllen.
South Texas College undergraduate students pay an average of $7,920 in tuition and fees each year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, South Texas College also is in the top 10% of our Best Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Amarillo College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the midsize city of Amarillo, Amarillo College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Amarillo College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,704 in tuition and fees each year.
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El Paso Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. El Paso Community College is a fairly large public school located in the city of El Paso.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at El Paso Community College are $5,314 a year.
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Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree education programs. Located in the town of Okmulgee, OSU Institute of Technology is a public college with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at OSU Institute of Technology are $11,384 a year.
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Tarrant County College District came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County College is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Tarrant County College undergraduate students pay an average of $8,235 in tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Tarrant County College is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.
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Central New Mexico Community College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. CNM is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Albuquerque.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CNM are $7,540 per year.
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With a ranking of #10, Pima Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their associate degree. Located in the large city of Tucson, Pima County Community College District is a public school with a large student population.
Pima County Community College District undergraduate students pay an average of $7,566 in tuition and fees each year.
Request InformationBest Education Colleges by State
Explore the best education schools for a specific state in the Southwest region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Arizona | 16,265 |
| Texas | 17,614 |
| New Mexico | 1,831 |
| Oklahoma | 3,171 |
More Education Rankings in the Southwest Region
Education Related Majors for Education
Education Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 110,226 |
| Educational Administration | 46,469 |
| Teacher Education Subject Specific | 43,297 |
| Special Education | 36,792 |
| General Education | 29,810 |
| Curriculum & Instruction | 19,832 |
| Student Counseling | 13,858 |
| Instructional Media Design | 8,695 |
| Teaching English or French | 5,791 |
| Other Education | 4,858 |
| Teaching Assistants | 2,751 |
| Educational Assessment | 2,552 |
| Multilingual Education | 1,910 |
| Education Philosophy | 737 |
| International Education | 293 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 205,984 |
| Psychology | 195,678 |
| Communication & Journalism | 120,571 |
| Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | 55,820 |
| History | 32,731 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 17 schools only.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Horadrim.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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