2025 Best Registered Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Registered Nursing is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #3 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 96 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Registered Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 10,081 associate degrees in registered nursing to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Registered Nursing School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of registered nursing for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality registered nursing 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

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.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on registered nursing students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other registered nursing 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.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized registered nursing related body.

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

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

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Registered Nursing in the Southwest Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in registered nursing. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

19 Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Registered Nursing

1

Eastern Arizona College
Thatcher, AZ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

59 Annual Graduates

Eastern Arizona College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in registered nursing. Eastern Arizona College is a moderately-sized public college located in the remote town of Thatcher.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Eastern Arizona College

2

South Texas College
McAllen, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

190 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in registered nursing has to look into South Texas College. South Texas College is a very large public college located in the medium-sized city of McAllen.More information about a associate in registered nursing from South Texas College

3

El Centro College
Dallas, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

336 Annual Graduates

El Centro College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting an associate degree in registered nursing. El Centro College is a very large public college located in the city of Dallas.More information about a associate in registered nursing from El Centro College

4

Tarrant County College District
Fort Worth, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

344 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Tarrant County College District if you want to pursue an associate degree in registered nursing. Tarrant County College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Tarrant County College District

5

GateWay Community College
Phoenix, AZ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

204 Annual Graduates

GateWay Community College is a moderately-sized public college located in the large city of Phoenix.More information about a associate in registered nursing from GateWay Community College

6

Lone Star College System
The Woodlands, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

334 Annual Graduates

North Harris Montgomery is a fairly large public college located in the medium-sized city of The Woodlands.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Lone Star College System

7

Central New Mexico Community College
Albuquerque, NM

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

279 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Albuquerque, CNM is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Central New Mexico Community College

8

Austin Community College District
Austin, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

307 Annual Graduates

Austin Community College District is a very large public college located in the large city of Austin.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Austin Community College District

9

San Jacinto Community College
Pasadena, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

205 Annual Graduates

San Jacinto College is a very large public college located in the city of Pasadena.More information about a associate in registered nursing from San Jacinto Community College

10

Del Mar College
Corpus Christi, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

213 Annual Graduates

DMC is a moderately-sized public college located in the city of Corpus Christi.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Del Mar College

11

Northland Pioneer College
Holbrook, AZ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

32 Annual Graduates

NPC is a small public college located in the rural area of Holbrook.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Northland Pioneer College

12

Angelina College
Lufkin, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

50 Annual Graduates

AC is a small public college located in the remote town of Lufkin.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Angelina College

13

Oklahoma City Community College
Oklahoma City, OK

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

236 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Oklahoma City, OCCC is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Oklahoma City Community College

14

Mohave Community College
Kingman, AZ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

145 Annual Graduates

MCC is a small public college located in the rural area of Kingman.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Mohave Community College

15

Mesa Community College
Mesa, AZ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

176 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Mesa, Mesa Community College is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Mesa Community College

16

Glendale Community College
Glendale, AZ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

181 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Glendale, Glendale Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Glendale Community College

17

Houston Community College
Houston, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

153 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Houston, Houston Community College is a public college with a very large student population.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Houston Community College

18

Weatherford College
Weatherford, TX

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

170 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Weatherford, Weatherford College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Weatherford College

19

Pima Community College
Tucson, AZ

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

151 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Tucson, Pima County Community College District is a public college with a fairly large student population.More information about a associate in registered nursing from Pima Community College

Rest of the Top Best Registered Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Registered Nursing students in the Southwest Region that almost earned our Best Registered Nursing Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.

Rank	College	Location
20	Amarillo College	Amarillo, TX
21	San Antonio College	San Antonio, TX
22	Temple College	Temple, TX
23	Texas State Technical College	Waco, TX
24	Grayson College	Denison, TX
25	Central Texas College	Killeen, TX
26	Phoenix College	Phoenix, AZ
27	Tulsa Community College	Tulsa, OK
28	Yavapai College	Prescott, AZ
29	Alvin Community College	Alvin, TX
30	Murray State College	Tishomingo, OK
31	Collin County Community College District	McKinney, TX
32	Paris Junior College	Paris, TX

Best Registered Nursing Colleges by State

Explore the best registered nursing schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	420	6,265
Arizona	349	2,133
New Mexico	255	543
Oklahoma	222	1,310

View All Rankings >

Registered Nursing Related Rankings by Major

One of 23 majors within the Nursing area of study, Registered Nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	36

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.