Why This Matters

  • THERE ARE 43 ASSOCIATE DEGREE PROGRAMS IN ARIZONA

    College Navigator reports a total of 43 community colleges in Arizona that offer two-year associate degree programs.

  • COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS PAID AN AVERAGE OF $2,284 IN TUITION

    For the 2020-21 academic year, it’s estimated that Arizona in-district community college students paid an average of $2,284 in educational costs.

  • FINANCIAL AID WAS RECEIVED BY 76.9% OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

    The National Center of Education Statistics reports that 437,899 students enrolled in a two-year associate program received financial aid for the 2018-19 school year.

Our Research

To create our list of the best community colleges in Arizona, we ranked private and public institutions offering online, on-campus, and hybrid programs. Other factors we considered when curating this list include the number of credit hours required to graduate and tuition cost per credit hour.

The schools we chose as the best are all accredited by regional organizations. Accreditation ensures that students can expect a high-quality education and allows for credit and degree transfers. One accreditor is the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which judges schools in Arizona and other states for excellence based on a variety of factors. The Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) is one of the program-specific accreditors you’ll see on our best-of list.

  • 36hours to write this article
  • 42universities and colleges we assessed
  • 89education programs we compared

The Top 50 Community Colleges in Arizona

Best Community Colleges in Arizona Badge
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What You Should Know About Graduating From Community College in Arizona

If you’re seeking a high-paying job in Arizona that requires only an associate degree, air traffic controller is first on the list. Radiation therapists, nuclear medicine technologists, and diagnostic medical sonographers are also in the top five when it comes to high-paying careers for two-year college graduates.

Researching the number of projected job openings in Arizona can help you choose an associate degree program. Preschool teachers and paralegals are expected to be in high demand between 2018 to 2028, followed by physical therapist assistants and radiologic technicians.

When deciding on a community college program, you may also want to know which associate-level jobs are on the decline in Arizona. Engineering technicians are ranked as having the highest rate of decline. Forest and conservation technicians, legal support workers, and air traffic controllers are also on the list of fastest-declining jobs.

What’s Next?

Researching financial aid opportunities is an important part of choosing the right community college. We’ve curated a list of federal and state websites where you’ll find valuable information about financial aid opportunities for associate degree students in Arizona.

  • Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education. This state website contains comprehensive information about understanding and applying for financial aid. Prospective students can learn about state and federal financial aid that’s available, including grants and scholarships.
  • Federal Student Aid. The U.S. Department of Education awards billions in various forms of financial aid each year through the office of Federal Student Aid. Use the FAFSA4caster to determine your eligibility, and fill out the online FAFSA form to apply.
  • CareerOneStop. This website is sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here, you can search for financial aid opportunities by state and degree level. Some of the information you can find here includes application deadlines and other requirements, contact information, and aid amounts.