2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 11,925 people earned their degree in general engineering, making the major the 78th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $66,152 and had an average of $20,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southwest region, there were 1,775 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $74,200 and $19,581 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 720 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,605 and $16,886 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in general engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general engineering programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the general engineering program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank General Engineering Schools

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 Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region.

Top 4 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for General Engineering in the Southwest Region

#1

Tulsa Community College

Tulsa, Oklahoma

#1 in overall quality

$6,078 Average Net Price

$51,106 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Tulsa Community College landed the #1 spot on the list. Tulsa Community College is a fairly large school located in Tulsa, Oklahoma that handed out 85 associates’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Tulsa Community College also made our “Best General Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend Tulsa Community College is $6,078 for southwest region associate degree engineering students.

Read full report on General Engineering at Tulsa Community College

#2

Central New Mexico Community College

Albuquerque, New Mexico

#3 in overall quality

$3,429 Average Net Price

$35,954 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Central New Mexico Community College landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this large public school awarded 43 diplomas to qualified associates’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

CNM not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best General Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Central New Mexico Community College is $3,429 for Southwest Region Associate Degree Engineering students.

Read full report on General Engineering at CNM

#3

Austin Community College District

Austin, Texas

#2 in overall quality

$6,861 Average Net Price

$36,134 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Austin Community College District. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region list. Austin Community College District is a large public school situated in Austin, Texas. It awarded 81 associates’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Austin Community College District did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best General Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. It costs about $6,861 for Southwest Region Associate Degree Engineering students per year to attend Austin Community College District.

Read full report on General Engineering at Austin Community College District

#4

Northwest Vista College

San Antonio, Texas

#4 in overall quality

$5,413 Average Net Price

$28,960 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwest Vista College landed the #4 spot on the list. Northwest Vista College is a fairly large school located in San Antonio, Texas that handed out 14 associates’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region associate degree engineering students list, Northwest Vista College has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best General Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwest Vista College is $5,413 for Southwest Region Associate Degree Engineering students.

Full Northwest Vista College General Engineering Report

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for General Engineering

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 Rémi Kaupp.

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