Ranked #12 in popularity, general social sciences is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual looked at 24 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best General Social Sciences Associate Degree Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 9,994 associate degrees in general social sciences to qualified students.
DEBUG: Checking offer "Sociology (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "Sociology (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Sociology" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Sociology" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Science & Engineering Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.6
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Science & Engineering Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.6)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Science & Engineering Diploma Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.6
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Science & Engineering Diploma Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.6)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BSW - Social Work (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "BSW - Social Work (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: Checking offer "DSW - Social Work (I Have a Masters)" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "DSW - Social Work (I Have a Masters)" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: Checking offer "MSW - Social Work (I Have a Bachelors)" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "MSW - Social Work (I Have a Bachelors)" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: Checking offer "PhD - Social Work (I Have a Masters)" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "PhD - Social Work (I Have a Masters)" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Social Work & Social Sciences Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Social Work & Social Sciences Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Social Work & Social Sciences Doctorate Programs (I Have a Masters)" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Social Work & Social Sciences Doctorate Programs (I Have a Masters)" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Social Work & Social Sciences Masters Programs (I Have a Bachelors)" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Social Work & Social Sciences Masters Programs (I Have a Bachelors)" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: relevant_offers count = 2
DEBUG: relevant_offers > 0, checking for ESYOH offers
DEBUG: ESYOH filtering - found 1 ESYOH offers with relevance >= 0.8
DEBUG: esyoh_offers count = 1
DEBUG: ESYOH offers found, rendering ESYOH widget
DEBUG: most_relevant_only = true, filtering for most relevant
DEBUG: Found 0 offers with relevance >= 1.0
DEBUG: Backfilling with 0 offers with relevance >= 0.9
DEBUG: Backfilling with 1 offers with relevance >= 0.8
Choosing a Great General Social Sciences School for Your Associate Degree
The social sciences associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality social sciences 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 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.
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 many resources a school devotes to general social sciences students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of general social sciences 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 much debt general social sciences 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 general social sciences related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for general social sciences students working on their associate degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best General Social Sciences Associate Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "social-sciences//general-social-sciences"
Every student who is interested in an associate degree in general social sciences needs to take a look at Northern Virginia Community College. Located in the large suburb of Annandale, Northern Virginia Community College is a public college with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their associate from the social sciences program state that they receive average early career wages of $23,637.
Merced College is a wonderful option for students interested in an associate degree in general social sciences. Located in the city of Merced, Merced Community College District is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Those general social sciences students who get their associate degree from Merced College earn $7,643 more than the average social sciences grad.
Ohlone College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in general social sciences. Located in the midsize city of Fremont, Ohlone College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the social sciences program earn about $22,545 for their early career.
Tidewater Community College is a fairly large public college located in the medium-sized city of Norfolk.
Associate recipients from the general social sciences major at Tidewater Community College get $2,900 above the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
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).
The social sciences associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality social sciences program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
