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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 16 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Liberal Arts General Studies Associate Degree Schools in New Mexico ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 2,603 associate degrees in liberal arts general studies to qualified students.
DEBUG: Checking offer "General Studies (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 1
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "General Studies (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" ACCEPTED (relevance 1)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 1
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" ACCEPTED (relevance 1)
DEBUG: Checking offer "AA in Liberal Arts" with relevance 1
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "AA in Liberal Arts" ACCEPTED (relevance 1)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in General Studies" with relevance 1
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in General Studies" ACCEPTED (relevance 1)
DEBUG: relevant_offers count = 4
DEBUG: relevant_offers > 0, checking for ESYOH offers
DEBUG: ESYOH filtering - found 2 ESYOH offers with relevance >= 0.8
DEBUG: esyoh_offers count = 2
DEBUG: ESYOH offers found, rendering ESYOH widget
DEBUG: most_relevant_only = true, filtering for most relevant
DEBUG: Found 2 offers with relevance >= 1.0
Choosing a Great Liberal Arts General Studies School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of liberal arts general studies 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
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 collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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
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 liberal arts general studies students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other liberal arts general studies 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 much debt liberal arts general studies students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
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 colleges for liberal arts general studies students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Liberal Arts General Studies Schools
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 Mexico list, to help you choose the best school for you.
DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "liberal-arts-sciences-humanities//liberal-arts-and-general-studies"
Central New Mexico Community College is a good choice for students interested in an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. CNM is a large public college located in the city of Albuquerque.
Liberal Arts General Studies associate degree recipients from Central New Mexico Community College receive an earnings boost of about $7,761 over the average income of liberal arts general studies graduates.
It's difficult to beat New Mexico State University - Dona Ana if you wish to pursue an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Las Cruces, NMSU Dona Ana is a public university with a medium-sized student population.
Liberal Arts General Studies associate degree recipients from New Mexico State University - Dona Ana receive an earnings boost of about $4,532 above the typical income of liberal arts general studies graduates.
Every student who is interested in an associate degree in liberal arts general studies needs to look into Eastern New Mexico University - Main Campus. ENMU - Main Campus is a moderately-sized public university located in the remote town of Portales.
After graduation, liberal arts associate recipients generally earn an average of $21,129 at the beginning of their careers.
It is hard to beat New Mexico Military Institute if you wish to pursue an associate degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the remote town of Roswell, NMMI is a public school with a fairly small student population.
Soon after graduation, liberal arts associate recipients usually make about $10,627 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the rural area of Alamogordo, NMSU Alamogordo is a public university with a small student population.
Associate recipients from the liberal arts general studies program at New Mexico State University - Alamogordo make $4,532 above the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the town of Grants, NMSU Grants is a public university with a fairly small student population.
Associate recipients from the liberal arts general studies degree program at New Mexico State University - Grants earn $4,532 above the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the rural area of Carlsbad, NMSU Carlsbad is a public university with a small student population.
Those liberal arts general studies students who get their associate degree from New Mexico State University - Carlsbad make $4,532 more than the standard liberal arts grad.
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.
Your choice of liberal arts general studies 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
