2024 Best Associate Degree Schools in Rhode Island

There are lots of options to choose from today when trying to decide which school to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our Top Rhode Island Colleges for an Associate ranking - to help you make that decision.

Jump to Any of the Following Sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Your Choice of School Matters

After analyzing 3 schools in Rhode Island, we came up with our list of those that offered the best associate degree programs. To come up with this ranking of the best schools, we look at factors that are all objective measurements. We explain more about what we look at and why we do so below.

Early-Career Earnings

Average early-career salary of those graduating with an associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue a degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Average Student Debt

In addition to average starting salaries, we also consider the average amount of student loans that students take on while pursuing their associate degree. When attending a school in Rhode Island, associate degree students accumulate an average of $15,702 in student debt before graduation. The average amount taken out in student loans for graduates at a particular school may be crippling for those who earn less than average wages after graduation.

Other Ranking Factors in Our Methodology

We also analyze a number of other factors in addition to average post-graduation earnings and average student debt when coming up with our yearly Best Associate Degree Schools ranking. Several other factors - such as how much the school spends on educational resources, the demand of the school, the availability of online learning options, and the student body caliber - go into our rankings.

We go into more detail on these factors on our best schools ranking methodology page.

Check Out These Other Rankings

Top Associate Degree Schools in Rhode Island

Learn more about these excellent schools below:

1

Johnson & Wales University - Providence
Providence, Rhode Island

302 Associate Degrees Awarded

$26,084 Average Early-Career Earnings

$13,982 Average Student Debt

Our analysis found Johnson & Wales University - Providence to be the best school for associate degrees in Rhode Island in this year’s ranking. JWU Providence is located in Providence, Rhode Island and has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 302 associate degrees to qualified graduate students.

Those who receive a associate degree from JWU Providence go into careers with an average salary of $26,084 during the early years of their career. Associate students carry an average student debt load of about $13,982 after getting their degree. This translates to an average monthly payment of $314 if the graduate is repaying the loan over a 10-year period.

Read full report on Johnson & Wales University - Providence

2

New England Institute of Technology
East Greenwich, Rhode Island

753 Associate Degrees Awarded

$40,109 Average Early-Career Earnings

$17,780 Average Student Debt

A rank of #2 on our Best Associate Degree in Rhode Island list means New England Institute of Technology is a great place for students working on their degree. Located in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 753 diplomas to qualifed associate degree students in 2020-2021.

Upon graduation, associate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $40,109 during the early years of their career. Associate students leave the school with an average of $17,780 in student loans. Average monthly loan payments are around $274 for a 10-year repayment plan.

Full New England Institute of Technology Report

3

Community College of Rhode Island
Warwick, Rhode Island

2,077 Associate Degrees Awarded

$42,003 Average Early-Career Earnings

$13,277 Average Student Debt

A rank of #3 on our Best Associate Degree in Rhode Island list means Community College of Rhode Island is a great place for students working on their degree. CCRI is a public institution located in Warwick, Rhode Island. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 2,077 associate degrees in 2020-2021.

Upon graduation, associate degree recipients go on to jobs making an average salary of $42,003 during the early years of their career. Associate students leave the school with an average of $13,277 in student loans.

Read full report on Community College of Rhode Island

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Notes and 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%.

More about our data sources and methodologies.