2025 Best Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region
Education is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #12 most popular associate degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual reviewed 11 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of education. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,173 associate degrees in education during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Education School for Your Associate Degree
The education associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to education students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other education students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
- Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for education to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized education related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for education students working on their associate degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Education Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision.