If you pursue a associate degree in liberal arts general studies, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #1 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual looked at 50 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Liberal Arts General Studies Associate Degree Schools in New York ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 10,499 associate degrees in liberal arts general studies to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Liberal Arts General Studies School for Your Associate Degree
The liberal arts associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality liberal arts program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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 much a school focuses on liberal arts general studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of liberal arts general studies students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
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 easy is it for liberal arts general studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized liberal arts general studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for liberal arts general studies students working on their associate degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Liberal Arts General Studies Associate Degree Schools in New York list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Liberal Arts General Studies in New York
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
10 Top New York Schools for an Associate in Liberal Arts
Suffolk County Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the large suburb of Selden, Suffolk County Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their associate from the liberal arts program report average early career wages of $26,874.
Any student who is interested in an associate degree in liberal arts general studies needs to look into SUNY Westchester Community College. Located in the suburb of Valhalla, SUNY Westchester Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Those liberal arts general studies students who get their associate degree from SUNY Westchester Community College make $5,431 more than the standard liberal arts student.
Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in liberal arts general studies has to check out Monroe Community College. Monroe Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the large suburb of Rochester.
Students who graduate with their associate from the liberal arts program state that they receive average early career wages of $25,252.
Located in the suburb of Garden City, Nassau Community College is a public college with a large student population.
Associate recipients from the liberal arts general studies major at Nassau Community College get $2,524 above the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
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Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Liberal Arts General Studies students in the state of New York that almost earned our Best Liberal Arts General Studies Associate Degree Schools in New York 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.