an associate degree in horticulture is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #87 out of 328 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for horticulture students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 294 associate degrees in horticulture to qualified students.
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
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 full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for horticulture 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 Horticulture Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast 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 Southeast Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in horticulture.
Top Southeast Region Schools for an Associate in Horticulture
North Carolina State University is a good choice for individuals interested in an associate degree in horticulture. Located in the city of Raleigh, NC State is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Horticulture associate degree recipients from North Carolina State University earn a boost of around $4,540 above the typical earnings of horticulture graduates.
Spartanburg Community College is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in horticulture. Located in the suburb of Spartanburg, Spartanburg Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Students who graduate with their associate from the horticulture program state that they receive average early career earnings of $29,260.
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).
