If you plan on getting your associate degree in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #59 in the country in terms of popularity. 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 Rocky Mountains Region to determine which ones were the best for heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 102 associate degrees in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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 heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration 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 easy is it for heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration 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 Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration Associate Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration in the Rocky Mountains Region
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration students seeking a an associate degree.
Top Rocky Mountains Region Schools for an Associate in HVACR
Intellitec College - Colorado Springs is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in heating, air conditioning, ventilation & refrigeration. Located in the large city of Colorado Springs, Intellitec College - Colorado Springs is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their associate from the hvacr program state that they receive average early career income of $35,919.
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.