2025 Best Air Transportation Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

an associate degree in air transportation is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #61 out of 328 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for air transportation students pursuing a associate degree. Combined, these schools handed out 155 associate degrees in air transportation to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

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

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 air transportation students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of air transportation students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
• 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 much debt air transportation 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 air transportation related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for air transportation students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Air Transportation Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Air Transportation Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Air Transportation in the Southwest Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for air transportation students seeking a an associate degree.

Top Southwest Region Schools for an Associate in Air Transport

1

Texas State Technical College
Waco, TX

12 Annual Graduates

$35,008 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat Texas State Technical College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in air transportation. TSTC is a fairly large public college located in the midsize city of Waco.

Students who graduate with their associate from the air transport program state that they receive average early career income of $35,008.

More information about a associate in air transportation from Texas State Technical College

2

Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology
Tulsa, OK

57 Annual Graduates

$35,377 Median Starting Salary

$73,658 Median Student Debt

Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology is one of the best schools in the country for getting an associate degree in air transportation. Spartan College - Tulsa is a fairly small private for-profit college located in the large city of Tulsa.

Associate graduates who receive their degree from the air transport program make an average of $35,377 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a associate in air transportation from Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology

Best Air Transportation Colleges by State

Explore the best air transportation schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	200	39
Arizona	169	36
New Mexico	140	0
Oklahoma	136	86

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Air Transport

One of 3 majors within the Transportation & Materials Moving area of study, Air Transportation has other similar majors worth exploring.

Air Transport Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Airline/Commercial/Professional Pilot & Flight Crew	80
Other Air Transportation	57
Air Traffic Controller	10
General Aeronautics/Aviation/Aerospace Science & Technology	5
Aviation/Airway Management & Operations	3

Most Popular Majors Related to Air Transport

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Marine Transportation	13
Ground Transportation	5

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). More about our data sources and methodologies.