If you plan on getting your associate degree in mental & social health services, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #37 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 105 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for mental & social health services students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,539 associate degrees in mental & social health services during the <nil> academic year.
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Choosing a Great Mental & Social Health Services School for Your Associate Degree
The mental health services 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 mental & social health services students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other mental & social health services 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 much debt mental & social health services 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 mental & social health services related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for mental & social health services students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Mental & Social Health Services Schools
The mental health services 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 Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools.
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Gain a strong foundation in the concepts involved with mental health therapy and assessment with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Become a force for the public good by exploring current trends in health and health policy from a national and global perspective with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Focus on improving the health of individuals based on their lifestyle needs with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Mental & Social Health Services in the United States
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for mental & social health services students seeking a an associate degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
21 Top Schools for an Associate in Mental Health Services
It is difficult to beat Capital Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in mental & social health services. Capital Community College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Hartford.
Associate students who receive their degree from the mental health services program make about $36,043 in their early career salary.
Southside Virginia Community College is a good decision for individuals pursuing an associate degree in mental & social health services. Located in the rural area of Alberta, Southside Virginia Community College is a public college with a small student population.
Soon after graduation, mental health services associate recipients generally earn an average of $28,796 at the beginning of their careers.
Ivy Tech Community College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting an associate degree in mental & social health services. Located in the large city of Indianapolis, Ivy Tech Community College is a public college with a very large student population.
Associate students who receive their degree from the mental health services program make an average of $29,954 in the first couple years of their career.
West Hills College-Coalinga is a small public college located in the remote town of Coalinga.
Associate recipients from the mental & social health services degree program at West Hills College-Coalinga make $37,118 more than the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
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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 Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools 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.
The mental health services 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.
