2025 Best Information Technology Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Information Technology is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #20 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 18 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of information technology. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 548 associate degrees in information technology during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Information Technology School for Your Associate Degree

The it associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality it 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 consider 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 information technology students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other information technology 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 much debt information technology students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized information technology related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for information technology students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Information Technology Schools

The it 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 Information Technology Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Information Technology in the Plains States Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for information technology students seeking a an associate degree.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for an Associate in IT

1

Hennepin Technical College
Brooklyn Park, MN

62 Annual Graduates

$46,775 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in information technology has to take a look at Hennepin Technical College. Hennepin Technical College is a small public college located in the suburb of Brooklyn Park.

Information Technology associate degree recipients from Hennepin Technical College get an earnings boost of around $3,215 above the average earnings of information technology graduates.

More information about a associate in information technology from Hennepin Technical College

2

Century College
White Bear Lake, MN

23 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in an associate degree in information technology has to look into Century College. Century College is a moderately-sized public college located in the suburb of White Bear Lake.More information about a associate in information technology from Century College

3

Minneapolis Community and Technical College
Minneapolis, MN

37 Annual Graduates

$39,603 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat Minneapolis Community and Technical College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in information technology. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Community and Technical College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Soon after graduating, it associate recipients usually make around $39,603 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a associate in information technology from Minneapolis Community and Technical College

4

Des Moines Area Community College
Ankeny, IA

37 Annual Graduates

$66,093 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat Des Moines Area Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in information technology. DMACC is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of Ankeny.

Associate recipients from the information technology degree program at Des Moines Area Community College earn $22,533 more than the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a associate in information technology from Des Moines Area Community College

5

Dakota State University
Madison, SD

22 Annual Graduates

Located in the distant town of Madison, Dakota State is a public university with a small student population.More information about a associate in information technology from Dakota State University

6

Southeast Technical College
Sioux Falls, SD

50 Annual Graduates

$42,439 Median Starting Salary

Southeast Tech is a small public college located in the city of Sioux Falls.

Students who graduate with their associate from the it program state that they receive average early career wages of $42,439.

More information about a associate in information technology from Southeast Technical College

7

Butler Community College
El Dorado, KS

19 Annual Graduates

Butler CC is a moderately-sized public college located in the town of El Dorado.More information about a associate in information technology from Butler Community College

8

Kirkwood Community College
Cedar Rapids, IA

20 Annual Graduates

$41,575 Median Starting Salary

Kirkwood Community College is a large public college located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids.

Students who graduate with their associate from the it program state that they receive average early career wages of $41,575.

More information about a associate in information technology from Kirkwood Community College

9

Lake Superior College
Duluth, MN

18 Annual Graduates

$44,549 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Duluth, LSC is a public college with a small student population.

Soon after graduation, it associate recipients usually make around $44,549 in their early careers.

More information about a associate in information technology from Lake Superior College

10

Rasmussen University - Minnesota
St. Cloud, MN

12 Annual Graduates

$42,043 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of St. Cloud, Rasmussen University - Minnesota is a private for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

After graduation, it associate recipients generally make an average of $42,043 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a associate in information technology from Rasmussen University - Minnesota

Best Information Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best information technology schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Minnesota	151	245
Kansas	146	59
Missouri	117	6
Iowa	116	110
South Dakota	93	38
North Dakota	92	10

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to IT

Information Technology is one of 10 different types of Computer & Information Sciences programs to choose from.

IT Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Network & System Administration/Administrator	225
Computer & IS Security	182
Computer Support Specialist	106
System, Networking, & LAN/WAN Management/Manager	31
Web/Multimedia Management & Webmaster	3
Information Technology Management	1

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Computer Programming	494
Computer Systems Networking	392
Computer Information Systems	353
Computer Science	200
Computer Software & Applications	126
Information Science	29
Data Processing	2

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Craig Dennis. More about our data sources and methodologies.