If you plan on getting your associate degree in agricultural mechanization, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #113 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
College Factual looked at 4 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Agricultural Mechanization Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 166 associate degrees in agricultural mechanization to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Agricultural Mechanization School for Your Associate Degree
The ag mech 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
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.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on agricultural mechanization students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of agricultural mechanization students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
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 agricultural mechanization to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized agricultural mechanization related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for agricultural mechanization students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Agricultural Mechanization Schools
The ag mech school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Agricultural Mechanization Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Agricultural Mechanization in the Plains States Region
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in agricultural mechanization.
Top Plains States Region Schools for an Associate in Ag Mech
Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in agricultural mechanization needs to look into North Dakota State College of Science. North Dakota State College of Science is a small public college located in the town of Wahpeton.
Those agricultural mechanization students who get their associate degree from North Dakota State College of Science make $5,633 more than the typical ag mech student.
Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in agricultural mechanization has to take a look at Mitchell Technical College. Located in the rural area of Mitchell, Mitchell Tech is a public college with a small student population.
Soon after graduation, ag mech associate recipients typically make an average of $40,163 at the beginning of their careers.
It is difficult to beat Kirkwood Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in agricultural mechanization. Located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids, Kirkwood Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduation, ag mech associate recipients generally earn around $42,853 in the first five years of their career.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
college factual
The ag mech 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
