If you pursue a associate degree in health & physical education, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #25 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 4 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for health & physical education students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 672 associate degrees in health & physical education to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Health & Physical Education School for Your Associate Degree
The phys ed associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality phys ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
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.
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 health & physical education students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of health & physical education 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 easy is it for health & physical education to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized health & physical education related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for health & physical education students working on their associate degree.
More Ways to Rank Health & Physical Education Schools
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Health & Physical Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Health & Physical Education in the Southwest Region
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in health & physical education.
Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Phys Ed
Every student who is interested in an associate degree in health & physical education needs to take a look at South Texas College. South Texas College is a very large public college located in the medium-sized city of McAllen.
After graduating, phys ed associate recipients typically make an average of $22,699 in the first five years of their career.
El Paso Community College is a good option for individuals pursuing an associate degree in health & physical education. El Paso Community College is a very large public college located in the city of El Paso.
Students who graduate with their associate from the phys ed program report average early career income of $21,750.
Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in health & physical education has to take a look at Bryan University. Located in the city of Tempe, Bryan University is a private for-profit university with a small student population.
Those health & physical education students who get their associate degree from Bryan University receive $9,238 more than the standard phys ed graduate.
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.
The phys ed associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality phys ed program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice: