2025 Best Data Processing Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

an associate degree in data processing is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #99 out of 328 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. 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 Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for data processing students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 133 associate degrees in data processing during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * 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

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to data processing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of data processing 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 data processing 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 data processing related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Data Processing Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Data Processing in the Southwest Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for data processing students seeking a an associate degree.

Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Data Processing

1

El Centro College
Dallas, TX

57 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in data processing has to take a look at El Centro College. El Centro College is a very large public college located in the large city of Dallas.More information about a associate in data processing from El Centro College

2

New Mexico State University - Dona Ana
Las Cruces, NM

35 Annual Graduates

$38,559 Median Starting Salary

New Mexico State University - Dona Ana is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in data processing. NMSU Dona Ana is a medium-sized public university located in the city of Las Cruces.

Students who graduate with their associate from the data processing program state that they receive average early career wages of $38,559.

More information about a associate in data processing from New Mexico State University - Dona Ana

Best Data Processing Colleges by State

Explore the best data processing schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	200	78
New Mexico	140	46

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Rankings in Majors Related to Data Processing

Data Processing is one of 10 different types of Computer & Information Sciences programs to choose from.

Data Processing Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Data Processing Technology	133

Most Popular Majors Related to Data Processing

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems	1,817
Information Technology	758
Computer Science	502
Computer Systems Networking	446
Computer Programming	427
Computer Software & Applications	132
Computer Systems Analysis	68
Information Science	36
Other Computer & Information Sciences	31
Data Entry	15

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 Kenneth Jensen. More about our data sources and methodologies.