Ranked #25 in popularity, health & physical education is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 12 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for health & physical education students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,648 associate degrees in health & physical education during the <nil> academic year.
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Choosing a Great Health & Physical Education School for Your Associate Degree
The phys ed associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality phys ed 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 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.
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 many resources a school devotes to health & physical education students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of health & physical education 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 health & physical education to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized health & physical education related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for health & physical education students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Health & Physical Education Schools
The phys ed 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 Health & Physical Education Associate Degree Schools.
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Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in health & physical education has to check out Riverside City College. Located in the large city of Riverside, Riverside City College is a public college with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their associate from the phys ed program report average early career wages of $25,516.
South Texas College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in health & physical education. South Texas College is a fairly large public college located in the city of McAllen.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the phys ed program earn around $22,699 in the first couple years of their career.
Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in health & physical education needs to look into Mt. San Antonio College. Located in the large suburb of Walnut, Mt. SAC is a public college with a very large student population.
Soon after graduation, phys ed associate recipients generally make an average of $19,869 in their early careers.
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.
The phys ed associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality phys ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
