Ranked #5 in popularity, allied health professions is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. 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 16 schools in Virginia to determine which ones were the best for allied health professions students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 642 associate degrees in allied health professions to qualified students.
Take your associate degree in an allied health field to the next level with this specialized transfer friendly online bachelor of science from Southern New Hampshire University.
Choosing a Great Allied Health Professions School for Your Associate Degree
The allied health associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. 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
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.
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
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to allied health professions students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other allied health professions 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 allied health professions to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized allied health professions related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for allied health professions students working on their associate degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Allied Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in Virginia list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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Take your associate degree in an allied health field to the next level with this specialized transfer friendly online bachelor of science from Southern New Hampshire University.
Northern Virginia Community College is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in allied health professions. Located in the suburb of Annandale, Northern Virginia Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Those allied health professions students who get their associate degree from Northern Virginia Community College receive $18,057 more than the average allied health grad.
ECPI University is a great option for individuals interested in an associate degree in allied health professions. ECPI University is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the large city of Virginia Beach.
Soon after graduation, allied health associate recipients generally earn around $55,250 in the first five years of their career.
Tidewater Community College is a great option for individuals interested in an associate degree in allied health professions. Tidewater Community College is a large public college located in the city of Norfolk.
Those allied health professions students who get their associate degree from Tidewater Community College make $6,531 more than the average allied health grad.
It is hard to beat Mountain Empire Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in allied health professions. Located in the town of Big Stone Gap, MECC is a public college with a small student population.
Associate recipients from the allied health professions major at Mountain Empire Community College make $2,353 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the large suburb of Richmond, Reynolds Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Allied Health Professions associate degree recipients from Reynolds Community College receive an earnings boost of around $5,111 above the average earnings of allied health professions majors.
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.
The allied health associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. 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:
