Allied Health Professions is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #5 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 79 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Allied Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 4,140 associate degrees in allied health professions to qualified students.
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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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
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.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
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 complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for allied health professions students working on their associate degree.
The allied health 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 Allied Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region.
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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.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Allied Health Professions in the Southwest Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in allied health professions. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
15 Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Allied Health
It is hard to beat El Centro College if you want to pursue an associate degree in allied health professions. El Centro College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Dallas.
Allied Health Professions associate degree recipients from El Centro College receive an earnings boost of approximately $6,855 over the average income of allied health professions majors.
It is difficult to beat GateWay Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in allied health professions. GateWay Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the city of Phoenix.
Students who graduate with their associate from the allied health program report average early career wages of $57,315.
Houston Community College is a wonderful choice for students interested in an associate degree in allied health professions. Located in the large city of Houston, Houston Community College is a public college with a very large student population.
Allied Health Professions associate degree recipients from Houston Community College earn a boost of around $11,306 above the average earnings of allied health professions majors.
It is difficult to beat Lone Star College System if you wish to pursue an associate degree in allied health professions. North Harris Montgomery is a fairly large public college located in the midsize city of The Woodlands.
Allied Health Professions associate degree recipients from Lone Star College System get an earnings boost of approximately $2,616 over the typical income of allied health professions graduates.
South Texas College is a very large public college located in the medium-sized city of McAllen.
Allied Health Professions associate degree recipients from South Texas College receive an earnings boost of about $12,935 over the average earnings of allied health professions majors.
Austin Community College District is a very large public college located in the large city of Austin.
Associate recipients from the allied health professions degree program at Austin Community College District make $3,978 above the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the fringe town of Weatherford, Weatherford College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Associate recipients from the allied health professions degree program at Weatherford College get $11,547 above the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the suburb of Alvin, Alvin is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Those allied health professions students who get their associate degree from Alvin Community College earn $3,968 more than the average allied health grad.
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Additional Noteworthy Schools
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Allied Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.
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.