2023 Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools
Finding the Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate Degree School for You
With 556,813 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, liberal arts / sciences and humanities is the #3 most popular major in the United States.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 851 schools in the United States 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 Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate Degree Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools for an Associate in Liberal Arts & Humanities
Our 2023 rankings named American Public University System the best school in the United States for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their associate degree. Located in the town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Brandman University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools list. Brandman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Columbia Southern University is a great place for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their associate degree. Located in the fringe town of Orange Beach, Columbia Southern University is a private for-profit college with a large student population.
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The excellent associate degree programs at Excelsior College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best liberal arts / sciences and humanities schools in the United States. Excelsior College is a large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Albany.
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Out of the 851 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, National University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Flex did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. UWM Flexible Option is a fairly small public school located in the large city of Milwaukee.
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Northwest Iowa Community College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the rural area of Sheldon, Northwest Iowa Community College is a public college with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #8, Columbia College did quite well on this year’s best schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their associate degree. Columbia College Missouri is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.
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University of Maryland Global Campus came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Adelphi, UMGC is a public college with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #10, Anoka-Ramsey Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their associate degree. Located in the large suburb of Coon Rapids, Anoka-Ramsey Community College-Coon Rapids Campus is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
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Mountwest Community and Technical College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Huntington, MCTC is a public school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #12, St Cloud Technical and Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their associate degree. St Cloud Technical and Community College is a small public school located in the small city of Saint Cloud.
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Northland Community and Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students to get a associate degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Northland Community and Technical College is a small public school located in the remote town of Thief River Falls.
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With a ranking of #14, Johnson County Community College did quite well on this year’s best schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their associate degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Overland Park, JCCC is a public school with a large student population.
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With a ranking of #15, Central Texas College did quite well on this year’s best schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their associate degree. Central Texas College is a medium-sized public school located in the midsize suburb of Killeen.
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Century College ranked #16 on this year’s Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools list. Century College is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of White Bear Lake.
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Rochester Community and Technical College ranked #17 on this year’s Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Rochester, Rochester Community and Technical College is a public school with a small student population.
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University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students to get a associate degree. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the small city of Oshkosh, UW Oshkosh is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #19, Florida SouthWestern State College did quite well on this year’s best schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their associate degree. Located in the suburb of Fort Myers, FSW is a public school with a large student population.
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Massachusetts Bay Community College landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the large suburb of Wellesley Hills, MassBay Community College is a public school with a small student population.
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Normandale Community College came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools ranking. Normandale Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Bloomington.
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University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee ranked #22 on this year’s Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools list. UWM is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Milwaukee.
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Macomb Community College ranked #23 on this year’s Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Warren, Macomb Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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El Centro College landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the large city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public school with a very large student population.
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North Hennepin Community College landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best associate degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. North Hennepin Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Brooklyn Park.
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Additional Award Winners
This list shows the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 851 different United States liberal arts / sciences and humanities schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Liberal Arts & Humanities students that almost earned our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools award.
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities by Region
View the Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Rankings
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Related Rankings by Major
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 556,813 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Visual & Performing Arts | 149,215 |
| English Language & Literature | 54,635 |
| Foreign Languages & Linguistics | 33,333 |
| Theology & Religious Vocations | 27,459 |
| Philosophy & Religious Studies | 19,993 |
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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Jacques Sablet (Switzerland, Morges, 1749-1803).
More about our data sources and methodologies.