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Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

2023 Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

142 Colleges
$43,116 Avg Salary
$21,919 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Health Professions Associate Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 977,800 health professions students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #2 most popular in the country.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 142 schools in the Southwest Region to see which ones offered the best associate degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Check out the health professions associate degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 15% Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Baptist Health System School of Health Professions the best school in the Southwest Region for health professions students working on their associate degree. Located in the large city of San Antonio, Baptist Health System School of Health Professions is a private for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Galen College of Nursing - San Antonio. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Galen College of Nursing - San Antonio is a small private for-profit school located in the city of San Antonio.

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#3

Parker University

Dallas, TX

The excellent associate degree programs at Parker University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best health professions schools in the Southwest Region . Parker University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Dallas.

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#4

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, TX

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Tarleton State University is a great place for health professions students working on their associate degree. Tarleton is a large public school located in the remote town of Stephenville.

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#5

Central Arizona College

Coolidge, AZ

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Central Arizona College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the rural area of Coolidge, Pinal County Community College is a public school with a small student population.

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Platt College - Tulsa ranked #6 on this year’s Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Platt College - Tulsa is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the large city of Tulsa.

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Pima Medical Institute - Tucson did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for health professions students to get a associate degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Tucson, PMI Tucson is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

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University of the Incarnate Word did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for health professions students to get a associate degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of San Antonio, UIW is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

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#9

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

El Centro College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public school with a very large student population.

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#10

Northeast Texas Community College

Mount Pleasant, TX

Northeast Texas Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for health professions students to get a associate degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the rural area of Mount Pleasant, NTCC is a public college with a small student population.

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With a ranking of #11, Carrington College, Mesquite did quite well on this year’s best schools for health professions students working on their associate degree. Located in the suburb of Mesquite, Carrington College, Mesquite is a private for-profit college with a small student population.

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#12

South Texas College

McAllen, TX

South Texas College ranked #12 on this year’s Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the midsize city of McAllen, South Texas College is a public college with a very large student population.

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#13

South University, Austin

Round Rock, TX

South University, Austin landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree health professions programs. South University, Austin is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the rural area of Round Rock.

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#14

Weatherford College

Weatherford, TX

With a ranking of #14, Weatherford College did quite well on this year’s best schools for health professions students working on their associate degree. Weatherford College is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Weatherford.

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The College of Health Care Professions - Northwest landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree health professions programs. CHCP - Northwest is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.

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Pima Medical Institute - Mesa came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the large city of Mesa, PMI Mesa is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

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#17

Panola College

Carthage, TX

Panola College landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree health professions programs. Located in the distant town of Carthage, Panola College is a public school with a small student population.

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With a ranking of #19, Pima Medical Institute - El Paso did quite well on this year’s best schools for health professions students working on their associate degree. PMI El Paso is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of El Paso.

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#20

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, TX

Lone Star College System ranked #20 on this year’s Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. North Harris Montgomery is a fairly large public school located in the city of The Woodlands.

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Remington College - North Houston Campus landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree health professions programs. Remington College - North Houston Campus is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Houston.

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Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.

Rank College Location
22 Houston Community College Houston, TX
23 Concorde Career College - Dallas Dallas, TX
24 Pima Medical Institute - Albuquerque Albuquerque, NM
25 Pima Medical Institute - Houston Houston, TX
26 Remington College - Dallas Campus Garland, TX
27 Southwestern Oklahoma State University Weatherford, OK
28 Western New Mexico University Silver City, NM

Best Health Professions Colleges by State

Explore the best health professions colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 24,705
Texas 45,833
New Mexico 3,731
Oklahoma 6,642

Health Professions Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596
Health Sciences & Services 35,945
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 29,833
Mental & Social Health Services 29,053
Medicine 28,629
Dental Support Services 26,399
Communication Sciences 22,298
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 20,393
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 18,901
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services 10,751
Health/Medical Prep Programs 9,210
Other Health Professions 7,984
Dentistry 6,770
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 6,158
Bioethics/Medical Ethics 5,115
Alternative Medicine & Systems 3,564
Chiropractic 2,658
Health Aids/Attendants/Orderlies 2,374
Medical Illustration & Informatics 2,089
Optometry 1,822
Advanced Dentistry & Oral Sciences 1,775
Ophthalmic & Optometric Support Services 960
Medical Science 909
Movement & Mind-Body Therapies 294
Alternative Medical Support Services 227
Energy & Biologically Based Therapies 68

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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