2026 Best Best Schools in the Southwest Region
Best degree programs prepare students for a range of careers in the field. A focused field like this rewards careful comparison of the schools that offer it.
For its 2026 ranking, College Factual looked at 1 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for best students pursuing a degree.
What’s on this page:
Best Schools for Best in the Southwest Region
If you are not interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the best degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Schools in Best
Leading the list is Northern Arizona University, our #1 school for best. Set in the city of Flagstaff, Northern Arizona University is a very large public institution. Roughly 61% of students complete a degree within six years here. About 13 best degrees were awarded at Northern Arizona University in the most recent year. Soon after graduation, best degree recipients from Northern Arizona University generally make around $47,056. Northern Arizona University graduates carry a median of $21,645 in student loans.
See the full best program report for Northern Arizona University
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Notes and References
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs graduation rate, post-graduation earnings, cost, and program quality, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Top Ranked · 1 school evaluated.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
