If you plan on getting your associate degree in data processing, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #99 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 8 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Data Processing Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 364 associate degrees in data processing to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Data Processing School for Your Associate Degree
The data processing associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality data processing program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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 include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of associate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their associate degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on data processing students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other data processing students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
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 data processing to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized data processing related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for data processing students working on their associate degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Data Processing Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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It is difficult to beat Greenville Technical College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in data processing. Located in the city of Greenville, GTC is a public college with a large student population.
Associate recipients from the data processing degree program at Greenville Technical College make $4,032 more than the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
It is hard to beat American Public University System if you want to pursue an associate degree in data processing. American Military University is a very large private for-profit university located in the town of Charles Town.
Those data processing students who get their associate degree from American Public University System earn $9,771 more than the typical data processing graduate.
It is difficult to beat Horry-Georgetown Technical College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in data processing. Located in the small city of Conway, Horry-Georgetown Technical College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Those data processing students who get their associate degree from Horry-Georgetown Technical College receive $3,795 more than the standard data processing graduate.
Midlands Technical College is a wonderful option for individuals interested in an associate degree in data processing. MTC is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of West Columbia.
Those data processing students who get their associate degree from Midlands Technical College make $4,982 more than the average data processing student.
Located in the medium-sized suburb of Spartanburg, Spartanburg Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Those data processing students who get their associate degree from Spartanburg Community College earn $4,672 more than the average data processing graduate.
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 data processing associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality data processing program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
