Computer Software & Applications is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #54 most popular associate degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the Rocky Mountains Region to determine which ones were the best for computer software & applications students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 75 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
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
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 complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for computer software & applications students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Computer Software & Applications Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Computer Software & Applications Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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.
Any student who is interested in an associate degree in computer software & applications needs to take a look at College of Western Idaho. Located in the rural area of Nampa, CWI is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduating, computer software associate recipients usually earn around $33,165 in the first five years of their career.
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).
by our College Data Analytics Team
