2025 Best Business Administration & Management Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

If you pursue a associate degree in business administration & management, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #3 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 54 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Business Administration & Management Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 8,726 associate degrees in business administration & management during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Business Administration & Management School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of business administration & management for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality business administration program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

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 many resources a school devotes to business administration & management students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of business administration & management 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 easy is it for business administration & management to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized business administration & management related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for business administration & management students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The business administration 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 Business Administration & Management Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Business Administration & Management in the Southwest Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in business administration & management. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

10 Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Business Administration

1

University of Phoenix - Arizona
Phoenix, AZ

1,696 Annual Graduates

$43,227 Median Starting Salary

$11,241 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat University of Phoenix - Arizona if you want to pursue an associate degree in business administration & management. Located in the city of Phoenix, UOPX - Arizona is a private for-profit university with a very large student population.

Associate recipients from the business administration & management program at University of Phoenix - Arizona get $10,344 above the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in business administration & management from University of Phoenix - Arizona

2

Mesa Community College
Mesa, AZ

151 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Mesa Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in business administration & management. Mesa Community College is a large public college located in the city of Mesa.More information about a associate in business administration & management from Mesa Community College

3

Houston Community College
Houston, TX

864 Annual Graduates

$34,732 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat Houston Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in business administration & management. Houston Community College is a very large public college located in the large city of Houston.

After graduating, business administration associate recipients typically make about $34,732 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a associate in business administration & management from Houston Community College

4

Rio Salado College
Tempe, AZ

38 Annual Graduates

Rio Salado College is a good decision for individuals interested in an associate degree in business administration & management. Rio Salado College is a large public college located in the midsize city of Tempe.More information about a associate in business administration & management from Rio Salado College

5

Lee College
Baytown, TX

236 Annual Graduates

Lee College is a medium-sized public college located in the small city of Baytown.More information about a associate in business administration & management from Lee College

6

Central New Mexico Community College
Albuquerque, NM

215 Annual Graduates

$37,010 Median Starting Salary

CNM is a fairly large public college located in the city of Albuquerque.

Associate recipients from the business administration & management major at Central New Mexico Community College get $4,127 above the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in business administration & management from Central New Mexico Community College

7

Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Chandler, AZ

185 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Chandler, Chandler-Gilbert Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in business administration & management from Chandler-Gilbert Community College

8

El Centro College
Dallas, TX

243 Annual Graduates

$42,440 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public college with a very large student population.

Those business administration & management students who get their associate degree from El Centro College earn $9,557 more than the average business administration student.

More information about a associate in business administration & management from El Centro College

9

Tulsa Community College
Tulsa, OK

339 Annual Graduates

$33,084 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Tulsa, Tulsa Community College is a public college with a large student population.

Students who graduate with their associate from the business administration program state that they receive average early career wages of $33,084.

More information about a associate in business administration & management from Tulsa Community College

10

Tarrant County College District
Fort Worth, TX

194 Annual Graduates

$43,700 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County College is a public college with a very large student population.

Associate recipients from the business administration & management major at Tarrant County College District earn $10,817 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in business administration & management from Tarrant County College District

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Business Administration & Management Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.

Rank	College	Location
11	American InterContinental University - Online	Chandler, AZ
12	Scottsdale Community College	Scottsdale, AZ
13	Odessa College	Odessa, TX
14	Phoenix College	Phoenix, AZ
15	Pima Community College	Tucson, AZ
16	San Juan College	Farmington, NM
17	Austin Community College District	Austin, TX
18	Lone Star College System	The Woodlands, TX

Best Business Administration & Management Colleges by State

Explore the best business administration & management schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	200	3,318
Arizona	169	3,198
New Mexico	140	434
Oklahoma	136	782

View All Rankings >

Business Administration & Management Related Rankings by Major

One of 21 majors within the Business, Management & Marketing area of study, Business Administration & Management has other similar majors worth exploring.

Business Administration Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Business Administration and Management	8,285
Organizational Leadership	218
Supply Chain Management	123
Office Administration	52
Operations Management	16
Transportation/Mobility Management	16
Science/Technology Management	7
Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management	4
Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management	3
Project Management	2

Majors Similar to Business Administration

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Business/Commerce	3,842
Accounting	746
Business Support & Assistant Services	299
Human Resource Management	174
Hospitality Management	165
Real Estate	136
Management Information Systems	135
Marketing	121
Construction Management	53
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing	43

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). More about our data sources and methodologies.