Religious Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #91 most popular associate degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Religious Studies Associate Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,461 associate degrees in religious studies during the <nil> 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
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to religious studies students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other religious studies students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
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 religious studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized religious studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for religious studies students working on their associate degree.
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 Religious Studies Associate Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Religious Studies in the United States
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for religious studies students seeking a an associate degree.
Liberty University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in religious studies. Located in the small city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Those religious studies students who get their associate degree from Liberty University earn $2,687 more than the average religion student.
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a wonderful choice for students interested in an associate degree in religious studies. Located in the suburb of Waxahachie, Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
Soon after graduating, religion associate recipients usually make an average of $31,593 in their early careers.
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).
