If you pursue a associate degree in human development & family studies, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #17 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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Human Development & Family Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 316 associate degrees in human development & family studies to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Human Development & Family Studies School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of human development & family studies for getting your associate degree school matters. 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
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 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
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 human development & family studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of human development & family studies students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
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 human development & family studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized human development & family studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for human development & family studies students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Human Development & Family Studies Schools
The human 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 Human Development & Family Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region.
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Des Moines Area Community College is a wonderful decision for students interested in an associate degree in human development & family studies. DMACC is a fairly large public college located in the suburb of Ankeny.
Associate students who receive their degree from the human development program earn about $22,623 in the first couple years of working.
Southeast Community College Area is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in human development & family studies. Southeast Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the large city of Lincoln.
Associate recipients from the human development & family studies degree program at Southeast Community College Area make $2,088 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
North Central Missouri College is a great decision for students pursuing an associate degree in human development & family studies. NCMC is a small public college located in the town of Trenton.
Soon after graduating, human development associate recipients generally earn an average of $26,867 at the beginning of their careers.
Every student who is interested in an associate degree in human development & family studies has to check out Ozarks Technical Community College. Located in the medium-sized city of Springfield, OTC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduation, human development associate recipients generally earn around $27,003 in their early careers.
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).
Your choice of human development & family studies for getting your associate degree school matters. 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:
