2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Information Technology (Income $30-$48k) in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value IT Schools for an Associate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 38,958 people earned their degree in information technology, making the major the 46th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, information technology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $39,044 and had an average of $25,781 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 1,873 information technology graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,953 and $19,503 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 406 information technology graduates with average earnings and debt of $36,451 and $19,634 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value IT Schools for an Associate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in information technology. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent information technology programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the information technology program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value IT Schools for an Associate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value IT Schools for an Associate in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california associate degree it students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 4 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Information Technology (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1

MTI College

Sacramento, California

#1 in overall quality

$17,695 Average Net Price

$39,214 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend MTI College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value IT Schools for an Associate in California For Those Making $30-$48k. MTI College is a small private for-profit school situated in Sacramento, California. It awarded 15 associates’s IT degrees in 2019-2020.

MTI College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Information Technology Associate Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $17,695 for California Associate Degree IT students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend MTI College.

Full MTI College Information Technology Report

#2

Laurus College

San Luis Obispo, California

#3 in overall quality

$13,417 Average Net Price

$36,560 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Laurus College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value IT Schools for an Associate in California For Those Making $30-$48k. Laurus College is a small school located in San Luis Obispo, California that handed out 22 associates’s IT degrees in 2019-2020.

Laurus College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Information Technology Associate Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Laurus College is $13,417 for California Associate Degree IT students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read full report on Information Technology at Laurus College

#3

Asher College

Sacramento, California

#2 in overall quality

$15,734 Average Net Price

$36,992 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Asher College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value IT Schools for an Associate in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Located in Sacramento, California, this small private for-profit school awarded 81 diplomas to qualified associates’s IT students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Asher College, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Information Technology Associate Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Asher College is $15,734 for California Associate Degree IT students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read full report on Information Technology at Asher College

#4

Empire College

Santa Rosa, California

#4 in overall quality

$23,282 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value IT Schools for an Associate in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Empire College landed the #4 spot on the list. Empire College is a small school located in Santa Rosa, California that handed out 12 associates’s IT degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Empire College, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Information Technology Associate Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $23,282 for California Associate Degree IT students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Empire College.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Empire College Information Technology Report

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Information Technology (Income $30-$48k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Information Technology (Income $30-$48k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Craig Dennis.

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