Liberal Arts General Studies is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #1 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 21 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Liberal Arts General Studies Associate Degree Schools in Virginia ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,920 associate degrees in liberal arts general studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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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. 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 quality 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 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 full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for liberal arts general studies students working on their associate degree.
The liberal arts 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 Liberal Arts General Studies Associate Degree Schools in Virginia.
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Northern Virginia Community College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the large suburb of Annandale, Northern Virginia Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Associate recipients from the liberal arts general studies program at Northern Virginia Community College make $7,263 above the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Southside Virginia Community College is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the remote area of Alberta, Southside Virginia Community College is a public college with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their associate from the liberal arts program state that they receive average early career income of $21,477.
Patrick Henry Community College is a good decision for individuals interested in an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the rural area of Martinsville, Patrick Henry is a public college with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their associate from the liberal arts program report average early career income of $20,681.
Any student who is interested in an associate degree in liberal arts general studies has to take a look at Lord Fairfax Community College. Located in the rural area of Middletown, Lord Fairfax Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Associate recipients from the liberal arts general studies degree program at Lord Fairfax Community College earn $3,136 above the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Tidewater Community College is a large public college located in the midsize city of Norfolk.
Liberal Arts General Studies associate degree recipients from Tidewater Community College earn a boost of about $2,413 above the average income of liberal arts general studies graduates.
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.