If you pursue a associate degree in
precision metal working, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #30 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 13 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for precision metal working students pursuing a associate degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 858 associate degrees in precision metal working during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
The precision metal working associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality precision metal working program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a good 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 Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of associate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their associate degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
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 precision metal working students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other precision metal working 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 much debt precision metal working 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 precision metal working related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for precision metal working students working on their associate degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Precision Metal Working Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
