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 reviewed 11 schools in West Virginia to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of liberal arts general studies. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,468 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. 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 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.
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 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.
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 West Virginia list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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It is difficult to beat American Public University System if you wish to pursue an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Associate recipients from the liberal arts general studies degree program at American Public University System make $22,879 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Blue Ridge Community and Technical College is a small public college located in the rural area of Martinsburg.
Those liberal arts general studies students who get their associate degree from Blue Ridge Community and Technical College earn $3,643 more than the standard liberal arts grad.
Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in liberal arts general studies needs to take a look at West Virginia University at Parkersburg. Located in the rural area of Parkersburg, West Virginia University at Parkersburg is a public university with a small student population.
Those liberal arts general studies students who get their associate degree from West Virginia University at Parkersburg make $4,180 more than the typical liberal arts graduate.
It's hard to beat Potomac State College of West Virginia University if you want to pursue an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. WVU Potomac State College is a small public university located in the remote town of Keyser.
After graduating, liberal arts associate recipients typically earn about $14,865 at the beginning of their careers.
MCTC is a small public college located in the medium-sized suburb of Huntington.
Those liberal arts general studies students who get their associate degree from Mountwest Community and Technical College earn $14,524 more than the average liberal arts student.
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.