2025 Best Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

If you plan on getting your associate degree in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #59 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 11 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 572 associate degrees in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration School for Your Associate Degree

The hvacr associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality hvacr 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

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various 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 heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration 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 easy is it for heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration in the Southeast Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration students seeking a an associate degree.

10 Top Southeast Region Schools for an Associate in HVACR

1

Northern Virginia Community College
Annandale, VA

21 Annual Graduates

Northern Virginia Community College is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration. Northern Virginia Community College is a very large public college located in the suburb of Annandale.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Northern Virginia Community College

2

Wake Technical Community College
Raleigh, NC

33 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in an associate degree in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration has to look into Wake Technical Community College. Wake Technical Community College is a very large public college located in the large suburb of Raleigh.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Wake Technical Community College

3

Gwinnett Technical College
Lawrenceville, GA

13 Annual Graduates

$40,342 Median Starting Salary

Gwinnett Technical College is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration. GTC is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of Lawrenceville.

Associate graduates who receive their degree from the hvacr program make around $40,342 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Gwinnett Technical College

4

Guilford Technical Community College
Jamestown, NC

20 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Guilford Technical Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration. Located in the suburb of Jamestown, Guilford Technical Community College is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Guilford Technical Community College

5

Tri-County Technical College
Pendleton, SC

19 Annual Graduates

TCTC is a medium-sized public college located in the medium-sized suburb of Pendleton.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Tri-County Technical College

6

Bluegrass Community and Technical College
Lexington, KY

17 Annual Graduates

Bluegrass Community and Technical College is a large public college located in the city of Lexington.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Bluegrass Community and Technical College

7

Midlands Technical College
West Columbia, SC

16 Annual Graduates

MTC is a moderately-sized public college located in the large suburb of West Columbia.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Midlands Technical College

8

Fayetteville Technical Community College
Fayetteville, NC

17 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Fayetteville, FTCC is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Fayetteville Technical Community College

9

Florence-Darlington Technical College
Florence, SC

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the rural area of Florence, Florence-Darlington Technical College is a public college with a small student population.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Florence-Darlington Technical College

10

Northeast Mississippi Community College
Booneville, MS

13 Annual Graduates

Northeast Mississippi Community College is a small public college located in the town of Booneville.More information about a associate in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration from Northeast Mississippi Community College

Best Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration Colleges by State

Explore the best heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration colleges for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Mississippi	143	69
Georgia	121	43
North Carolina	120	128
Arkansas	105	28
Tennessee	102	11
Virginia	97	48
West Virginia	92	1
Kentucky	90	41
Louisiana	80	2
South Carolina	77	24
Alabama	69	4

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to HVACR

Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration is one of 7 different types of Mechanic & Repair Technologies programs to choose from.

HVACR Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration Maintenance Technology/Technician	572

Most Popular Majors Related to HVACR

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Vehicle Maintenance & Repair	3,125
Mechanic & Repair Tech (Other)	796
Heavy/Industrial Equipment Maintenance	787
Electronics Maintenance & Repair	485
Mechanics & Repairers	75
Precision Systems Maintenance	20

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). More about our data sources and methodologies.