2024 Best Education Associate Degree Schools in California

If you plan on getting your associate degree in education, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #12 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 reviewed 2 schools in California 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 1,629 associate degrees in education during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

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

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on education students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of education students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt education students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• 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 schools for education students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Education Schools

The education 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 Education Associate Degree Schools in California.

 

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Education in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in education.

Top California Schools for an Associate in Education

1

The University of Arizona Global Campus
San Diego, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

260 Annual Graduates

The University of Arizona Global Campus is a wonderful choice for students pursuing an associate degree in education. Located in the city of San Diego, UAGC is a private for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a associate in education from The University of Arizona Global Campus

2

Humphreys University - Stockton and Modesto Campuses
Stockton, CA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

8 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Humphreys University - Stockton and Modesto Campuses if you want to pursue an associate degree in education. Located in the large city of Stockton, Humphreys University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly small student population.More information about a associate in education from Humphreys University - Stockton and Modesto Campuses

Best Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Education Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Oregon	35	130
Nevada	35	223
Washington	33	394
Hawaii	24	116
Alaska	22	15

View All Rankings >

Education Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Special Education	1,190
Teacher Education Grade Specific	299
Teaching Assistants	103
General Education	36
Teacher Education Subject Specific	1

Most Popular Majors Related to Education

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Library Science	58

Notes and References

• 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Horadrim. More about our data sources and methodologies.