2025 Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

an associate degree in mental & social health services is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #37 out of 328 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 11 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 365 associate degrees in mental & social health services during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

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 Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of associate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their associate degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

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

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Mental & Social Health Services in the Southwest Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in mental & social health services.

10 Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Mental Health Services

1

Central Texas College
Killeen, TX

18 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Central Texas College if you want to pursue an associate degree in mental & social health services. Located in the suburb of Killeen, Central Texas College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in mental & social health services from Central Texas College

2

San Jacinto Community College
Pasadena, TX

11 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in mental & social health services needs to check out San Jacinto Community College. San Jacinto College is a very large public college located in the midsize city of Pasadena.More information about a associate in mental & social health services from San Jacinto Community College

3

San Antonio College
San Antonio, TX

21 Annual Graduates

San Antonio College is a wonderful decision for individuals interested in an associate degree in mental & social health services. Located in the large city of San Antonio, San Antonio College is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in mental & social health services from San Antonio College

4

Tarrant County College District
Fort Worth, TX

20 Annual Graduates

Tarrant County College District is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing an associate degree in mental & social health services. Tarrant County College is a very large public college located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a associate in mental & social health services from Tarrant County College District

5

El Centro College
Dallas, TX

22 Annual Graduates

El Centro College is a very large public college located in the city of Dallas.More information about a associate in mental & social health services from El Centro College

6

McLennan Community College
Waco, TX

38 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Waco, MCC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a associate in mental & social health services from McLennan Community College

7

Lone Star College System
The Woodlands, TX

47 Annual Graduates

North Harris Montgomery is a very large public college located in the medium-sized city of The Woodlands.More information about a associate in mental & social health services from Lone Star College System

8

Austin Community College District
Austin, TX

17 Annual Graduates

$31,821 Median Starting Salary

Austin Community College District is a fairly large public college located in the large city of Austin.

Associate graduates who receive their degree from the mental health services program make about $31,821 in their early career salary.

More information about a associate in mental & social health services from Austin Community College District

9

Texas State Technical College
Waco, TX

13 Annual Graduates

$29,779 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Waco, TSTC is a public college with a large student population.

Associate students who receive their degree from the mental health services program make about $29,779 in their early career salary.

More information about a associate in mental & social health services from Texas State Technical College

10

Rio Salado College
Tempe, AZ

30 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Tempe, Rio Salado College is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in mental & social health services from Rio Salado College

Best Mental & Social Health Services Colleges by State

Explore the best mental & social health services schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	200	364
Arizona	169	52
New Mexico	140	6
Oklahoma	136	10

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Mental Health Services

Mental & Social Health Services is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Mental Health Services Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling	211
Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician	92
Mental Health Counseling/Counselor	36
Clinical/Medical Social Work	24
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling	2

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Nursing	10,117
Allied Health Professions	4,140
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	2,002
Health & Medical Administrative Services	1,530
Health Sciences & Services	1,280
Dental Support Services	754
Health/Medical Prep Programs	685
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	416
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	308
Public Health	62

Notes and References

• 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.