an associate degree in computer software & applications is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #54 out of 328 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual reviewed 10 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of computer software & applications. Combined, these schools handed out 414 associate degrees in computer software & applications to qualified students.
DEBUG: Checking offer "Software Engineering (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "Software Engineering (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Software Engineering (I Have a Bachelors)" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "Software Engineering (I Have a Bachelors)" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Computer Science (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.7
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Computer Science (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.7)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Computer Science (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.7
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Computer Science (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.7)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Computer Science (I Have a Bachelors)" with relevance 0.7
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Computer Science (I Have a Bachelors)" REJECTED (relevance 0.7)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts - User Experience Design" with relevance 0.7
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts - User Experience Design" REJECTED (relevance 0.7)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BS in Computer Information Systems" with relevance 0.7
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "BS in Computer Information Systems" REJECTED (relevance 0.7)
DEBUG: Checking offer "MS in Information Technology - Web Design" with relevance 0.7
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "MS in Information Technology - Web Design" REJECTED (relevance 0.7)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Science & Engineering Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.6
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Science & Engineering Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.6)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Science & Engineering Diploma Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.6
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Science & Engineering Diploma Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.6)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Web Design (I Have a Bachelors)" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Web Design (I Have a Bachelors)" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: relevant_offers count = 9
DEBUG: relevant_offers > 0, checking for ESYOH offers
DEBUG: ESYOH filtering - found 5 ESYOH offers with relevance >= 0.8
DEBUG: esyoh_offers count = 5
DEBUG: ESYOH offers found, rendering ESYOH widget
DEBUG: most_relevant_only = true, filtering for most relevant
DEBUG: Found 3 offers with relevance >= 1.0
Choosing a Great Computer Software & Applications School for Your Associate Degree
The computer software associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to computer software & applications students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other computer software & applications students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for computer software & applications to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized computer software & applications related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for computer software & applications students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Computer Software & Applications 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 Computer Software & Applications Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.
DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "computer-information-sciences//computer-software-and-apps"
Learn the applied programming skills needed to fill in-demand tech roles when you earn your online AS in Computer Science at Southern New Hampshire University.
Madison Area Technical College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in computer software & applications. Located in the large city of Madison, Madison College is a public college with a large student population.
Associate recipients from the computer software & applications major at Madison Area Technical College earn $21,333 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
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).
The computer software associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
