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Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

86 Colleges
$5,195 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$24,682 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 556,813 liberal arts / sciences and humanities students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #3 most popular in the country.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 86 schools in the Southwest Region to see which associate degree programs offered the best value experiences for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Check out the liberal arts / sciences and humanities associate degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 15% Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Associate Degree Schools

Our analysis found New Mexico Junior College to be the best value school for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students who want to pursue a associate degree in the Southwest Region . Located in the town of Hobbs, New Mexico Junior College is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at New Mexico Junior College are $2,280 a year.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at New Mexico Junior College Report

Out of the 86 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Collin County Community College District landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the midsize suburb of McKinney, Collin County Community College District is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Collin County Community College District undergraduate students pay an average of $5,104 in tuition and fees each year.

Collin County Community College District also made our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, coming in at #4.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Collin County Community College District Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend New Mexico State University - Carlsbad. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the rural area of Carlsbad, NMSU Carlsbad is a public college with a small student population.

NMSU Carlsbad undergraduate students pay an average of $4,008 in tuition and fees each year.

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#4

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

Out of the 86 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, El Centro College landed the # 4 spot on the list. El Centro College is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Dallas.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at El Centro College are $6,000 per year.

El Centro College also made our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, coming in at #3.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at El Centro College Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend New Mexico State University - Grants. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the town of Grants, NMSU Grants is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NMSU Grants are $4,104 per year.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at New Mexico State University - Grants Report

#6

Amarillo College

Amarillo, TX

Amarillo College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the city of Amarillo, Amarillo College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Amarillo College are $4,704 per year.

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#7

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

Tyler Junior College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Tyler Junior College is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Tyler.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Tyler Junior College are $4,440 per year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Tyler Junior College

#8

Odessa College

Odessa, TX

Odessa College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Odessa, Odessa College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Odessa College are $4,398 per year.

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McLennan Community College landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the midsize city of Waco, MCC is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

MCC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,910 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, MCC also did well on our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at McLennan Community College Report

#10

College of the Mainland

Texas City, TX

College of the Mainland landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the midsize suburb of Texas City, COM is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at COM are $3,873 per year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at College of the Mainland

#11

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, TX

Lone Star College System came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the midsize city of The Woodlands, North Harris Montgomery is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at North Harris Montgomery are $6,168 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, North Harris Montgomery is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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#12

Midland College

Midland, TX

Midland College came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Midland College is a moderately-sized public school located in the midsize city of Midland.

Midland College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,880 in tuition and fees each year.

Midland College also claimed a spot on our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Midland College

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great value schools for Liberal Arts & Humanities students in the Southwest Region seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.

Rank College Location
13 Hill College Hillsboro, TX
14 Central Texas College Killeen, TX
15 South Plains College Levelland, TX
16 Houston Community College Houston, TX
17 The University of Texas at Brownsville Brownsville, TX

Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Colleges by State

Explore the best liberal arts / sciences and humanities schools for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 8,087
Texas 55,869
New Mexico 3,989
Oklahoma 3,298

Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Liberal Arts General Studies 556,813

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.

  • 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.

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