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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Allied Health Professions Associate Degree Schools in South Dakota ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 126 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
Your choice of allied health professions for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality allied health 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
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various 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 allied health professions students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of allied health professions 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 much debt allied health professions 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 allied health professions related body.
Our complete 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.
More Ways to Rank Allied Health Professions Schools
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 South Dakota.
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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.
Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in allied health professions has to look into Southeast Technical College. Southeast Tech is a small public college located in the medium-sized city of Sioux Falls.
Allied Health Professions associate degree recipients from Southeast Technical College get an earnings boost of approximately $16,206 above the typical income of allied health professions graduates.
It is hard to beat Mitchell Technical College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in allied health professions. Mitchell Tech is a small public college located in the town of Mitchell.
Students who graduate with their associate from the allied health program state that they receive average early career wages of $58,960.
It's hard to beat Western Dakota Technical Institute if you want to pursue an associate degree in allied health professions. Located in the city of Rapid City, Western Dakota Tech is a public school with a small student population.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the allied health program make about $54,737 in their early career salary.
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.
Your choice of allied health professions for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality allied health program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
