2025 Best Horticulture Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

If you plan on getting your associate degree in horticulture, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #87 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for horticulture students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 162 associate degrees in horticulture to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

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 horticulture students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other horticulture 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 much debt horticulture 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 horticulture related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for horticulture students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Horticulture Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Horticulture in the Plains States Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in horticulture.

Top Plains States Region Schools for an Associate in Horticulture

1

Kirkwood Community College
Cedar Rapids, IA

18 Annual Graduates

$35,900 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Kirkwood Community College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in horticulture. Kirkwood Community College is a large public college located in the midsize city of Cedar Rapids.

Students who graduate with their associate from the horticulture program state that they receive average early career wages of $35,900.

More information about a associate in horticulture from Kirkwood Community College

2

Des Moines Area Community College
Ankeny, IA

15 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in horticulture has to take a look at Des Moines Area Community College. DMACC is a very large public college located in the large suburb of Ankeny.More information about a associate in horticulture from Des Moines Area Community College

Best Horticulture Colleges by State

Explore the best horticulture schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Minnesota	151	19
Kansas	146	5
Missouri	117	26
Iowa	116	38
Nebraska	98	12
South Dakota	93	18
North Dakota	92	1

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Horticulture

Horticulture is one of 18 different types of Agriculture & Agriculture Operations programs to choose from.

Horticulture Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Applied Horticulture/Horticulture Operations	70
Turf & Turfgrass Management	44
Applied Horticulture/Horticultural Business Services, Other	25
L&scaping & Groundskeeping	16
Greenhouse Operations & Management	6
Floriculture/Floristry Operations & Management	1

Most Popular Majors Related to Horticulture

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Agricultural Economics & Business	613
Veterinary/Animal Health Technologies/Technicians	332
Agricultural Mechanization	241
Agricultural Production	239
General Agriculture	120
Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences	40
Plant Sciences	38
Animal Science	22
Agriculture/Veterinary Preparatory Programs	13
Animal Services	5

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to {}. More about our data sources and methodologies.