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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 5 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Social Sciences Associate Degree Schools in Virginia ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,029 associate degrees in general social sciences during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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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 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 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 full 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 the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Social Sciences Associate Degree Schools in Virginia list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in general social sciences has to look into Northern Virginia Community College. Located in the 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.
Tidewater Community College is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in general social sciences. Tidewater Community College is a large public college located in the city of Norfolk.
Associate recipients from the general social sciences degree program at Tidewater Community College make $6,240 more than the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Reynolds Community College is a wonderful decision for students interested in an associate degree in general social sciences. Located in the suburb of Richmond, Reynolds Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Soon after graduation, social sciences associate recipients usually earn an average of $18,164 at the beginning of their careers.
Thomas Nelson Community College is a great decision for individuals pursuing an associate degree in general social sciences. Located in the suburb of Hampton, TNCC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
General Social Sciences associate degree recipients from Thomas Nelson Community College receive an earnings boost of approximately $2,293 above the average earnings of general social sciences majors.
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:
