If you pursue a associate degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #19 most popular program in the country. 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 13 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 814 associate degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of design & applied arts 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
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.
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 much a school focuses on design & applied arts students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other design & applied arts students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
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 design & applied arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized design & applied arts related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for design & applied arts 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 Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Collin County Community College District is a good choice for individuals interested in an associate degree in design & applied arts. Collin County Community College District is a fairly large public college located in the suburb of McKinney.
Those design & applied arts students who get their associate degree from Collin County Community College District make $5,532 more than the standard design student.
El Centro College is a good decision for students pursuing an associate degree in design & applied arts. El Centro College is a very large public college located in the city of Dallas.
Those design & applied arts students who get their associate degree from El Centro College earn $3,554 more than the average design grad.
Austin Community College District is one of the finest schools in the country for getting an associate degree in design & applied arts. Austin Community College District is a fairly large public college located in the city of Austin.
Design & Applied Arts associate degree recipients from Austin Community College District receive an earnings boost of around $12,365 above the typical earnings of design & applied arts graduates.
Scottsdale Community College is a good decision for individuals interested in an associate degree in design & applied arts. Located in the rural area of Scottsdale, Scottsdale Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Those design & applied arts students who get their associate degree from Scottsdale Community College receive $10,752 more than the standard design student.
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 design & applied arts 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.
