2025 Best Early Childhood Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

If you pursue a associate degree in early childhood education, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #16 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 15 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for early childhood education students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,891 associate degrees in early childhood education to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Early Childhood Education School for Your Associate Degree

The child development associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality child development program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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.

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 early childhood education students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of early childhood education students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
• 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.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized early childhood education related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for early childhood education students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The child development 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 Early Childhood Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Early Childhood Education in the Southwest Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in early childhood education.

10 Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Child development

1

South Texas College
McAllen, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

162 Annual Graduates

South Texas College is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in early childhood education. South Texas College is a very large public college located in the midsize city of McAllen.More information about a associate in early childhood education from South Texas College

2

Collin County Community College District
McKinney, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

65 Annual Graduates

Collin County Community College District is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in early childhood education. Collin County Community College District is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of McKinney.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Collin County Community College District

3

Tarrant County College District
Fort Worth, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

71 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in an associate degree in early childhood education needs to take a look at Tarrant County College District. Tarrant County College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Tarrant County College District

4

Central New Mexico Community College
Albuquerque, NM

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

98 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Central New Mexico Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in early childhood education. Located in the city of Albuquerque, CNM is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Central New Mexico Community College

5

El Centro College
Dallas, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

219 Annual Graduates

El Centro College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Dallas.More information about a associate in early childhood education from El Centro College

6

Austin Community College District
Austin, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

57 Annual Graduates

Austin Community College District is a very large public college located in the city of Austin.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Austin Community College District

7

Paris Junior College
Paris, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

25 Annual Graduates

Located in the remote town of Paris, Paris Junior College is a public college with a small student population.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Paris Junior College

8

Northwest Vista College
San Antonio, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

129 Annual Graduates

Northwest Vista College is a large public college located in the large city of San Antonio.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Northwest Vista College

9

Lone Star College System
The Woodlands, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

257 Annual Graduates

North Harris Montgomery is a very large public college located in the city of The Woodlands.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Lone Star College System

10

Pima Community College
Tucson, AZ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

19 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Tucson, Pima County Community College District is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Pima Community College

Best Early Childhood Education Colleges by State

Explore the best early childhood education schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	420	1,668
Arizona	349	117
New Mexico	255	180
Oklahoma	222	8

View All Rankings >

Early Childhood Education Related Rankings by Major

One of 13 majors within the Teacher Education Grade Specific area of study, Early Childhood Education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Child development

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Teacher Education	1,025
Elementary Education	416
Secondary Education	322
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching	151
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching	41
Adult & Continuing Education	1
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Methods	1

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 Vgrigas. More about our data sources and methodologies.