2025 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arizona

Nursing is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #2 most popular major in the country. 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 21 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arizona ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,971 associate degrees in nursing during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of nursing for getting your associate degree school matters. 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

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 include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different 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 many resources a school devotes to nursing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other nursing students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• 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 easy is it for nursing to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for nursing students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Nursing 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 Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Arizona list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Nursing in Arizona

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in nursing.

10 Top Arizona Schools for an Associate in Nursing

1

Eastern Arizona College
Thatcher, AZ

59 Annual Graduates

$70,074 Median Starting Salary

Eastern Arizona College is a great choice for individuals pursuing an associate degree in nursing. Located in the town of Thatcher, Eastern Arizona College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Associate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $70,074 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Eastern Arizona College

2

GateWay Community College
Phoenix, AZ

204 Annual Graduates

$74,062 Median Starting Salary

GateWay Community College is a good option for individuals interested in an associate degree in nursing. Located in the city of Phoenix, GateWay Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program report average early career wages of $74,062.

More information about a associate in nursing from GateWay Community College

3

Northland Pioneer College
Holbrook, AZ

32 Annual Graduates

$71,105 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Northland Pioneer College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in nursing. Located in the rural area of Holbrook, NPC is a public college with a small student population.

Associate students who receive their degree from the nursing program earn about $71,105 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Northland Pioneer College

4

Mohave Community College
Kingman, AZ

145 Annual Graduates

$73,774 Median Starting Salary

Mohave Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in nursing. Located in the rural area of Kingman, MCC is a public college with a small student population.

Soon after graduating, nursing associate recipients generally earn about $73,774 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Mohave Community College

5

Mesa Community College
Mesa, AZ

176 Annual Graduates

$73,639 Median Starting Salary

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

Soon after graduation, nursing associate recipients usually make an average of $73,639 in their early careers.

More information about a associate in nursing from Mesa Community College

6

Glendale Community College
Glendale, AZ

181 Annual Graduates

$75,418 Median Starting Salary

Glendale Community College is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of Glendale.

Associate recipients from the nursing program at Glendale Community College earn $2,332 above the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a associate in nursing from Glendale Community College

7

Pima Community College
Tucson, AZ

151 Annual Graduates

$73,629 Median Starting Salary

Pima County Community College District is a large public college located in the city of Tucson.

Students who graduate with their associate from the nursing program state that they receive average early career wages of $73,629.

More information about a associate in nursing from Pima Community College

8

Phoenix College
Phoenix, AZ

102 Annual Graduates

$72,843 Median Starting Salary

Phoenix College is a fairly large public college located in the large city of Phoenix.

After graduation, nursing associate recipients generally earn about $72,843 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Phoenix College

9

Yavapai College
Prescott, AZ

90 Annual Graduates

$74,560 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Prescott, Yavapai College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Associate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program make around $74,560 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a associate in nursing from Yavapai College

10

Estrella Mountain Community College
Avondale, AZ

77 Annual Graduates

$78,359 Median Starting Salary

Estrella Mountain Community College is a fairly large public college located in the suburb of Avondale.

Nursing associate degree recipients from Estrella Mountain Community College earn a boost of around $5,273 over the average income of nursing majors.

More information about a associate in nursing from Estrella Mountain Community College

Best Nursing Colleges in the Southwest Region

Explore all the Best Nursing Colleges in the Southwest Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	200	6,294
New Mexico	140	543
Oklahoma	136	1,310

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Nursing

Nursing is one of 34 different types of Health Professions programs to choose from.

Nursing Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing	1,971

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Allied Health Professions	777
Health & Medical Administrative Services	549
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services	360
Health Sciences & Services	185
Dental Support Services	167
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	77
Mental & Social Health Services	73
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants	41
Public Health	25
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	11

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle. More about our data sources and methodologies.