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Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

27 Colleges
$6,269 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$29,728 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 29,053 mental and social health services students received a degree or certificate, making the major the #8 most popular in the country.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for healthcare students. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Healthcare Degree Search has created its Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. This report analyzed 27 schools in the Southwest Region to see which ones offered the best value associate degree programs for mental health services students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools

Our analysis found Alvin Community College to be the best value school for mental and social health services students who want to pursue a associate degree in the Southwest Region . Alvin is a small public school located in the large suburb of Alvin.

Alvin undergraduate students pay an average of $4,010 in tuition and fees each year.

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#2

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means El Centro College is a great value for mental and social health services students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public school with a very large student population.

El Centro College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,000 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, mental health services graduates from El Centro College carry an average student debtload of $27,229.

El Centro College did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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#3

Lee College

Baytown, TX

Out of the 27 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Lee College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Baytown, Lee College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Lee College are $4,302 a year.

Read full report on Mental & Social Health Services at Lee College

The excellent associate degree programs at Houston Community College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value mental and social health services schools in the Southwest Region . Houston Community College is a fairly large public school located in the city of Houston.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Houston Community College are $5,460 a year. After completing their Associate Degree, mental health services graduates from Houston Community College carry an average student debtload of $28,778.

Houston Community College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Wharton County Junior College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the town of Wharton, Wharton County Junior College is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Wharton County Junior College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,872 in tuition and fees each year.

Wharton County Junior College also claimed a spot on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Mental & Social Health Services at Wharton County Junior College

#6

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, TX

Lone Star College System did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mental and social health services students to get a associate degree. It came in at #6 on the list. North Harris Montgomery is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of The Woodlands.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at North Harris Montgomery are $6,168 per year. On average, mental health services graduates from North Harris Montgomery take out $19,283 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

In addition to its great value ranking, North Harris Montgomery is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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#7

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

Tyler Junior College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Tyler, Tyler Junior College is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Tyler Junior College are $4,440 per year. The average amount in student loans that mental health services majors at Tyler Junior College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $25,157.

Full Mental & Social Health Services at Tyler Junior College Report

#8

Kilgore College

Kilgore, TX

Kilgore College landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree mental and social health services programs. Kilgore College is a medium-sized public school located in the fringe town of Kilgore.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Kilgore College are $5,256 per year.

Read full report on Mental & Social Health Services at Kilgore College

#9

Northeast Texas Community College

Mount Pleasant, TX

With a ranking of #9, Northeast Texas Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for mental and social health services students working on their associate degree. Located in the rural area of Mount Pleasant, NTCC is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NTCC are $6,449 a year.

NTCC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Read full report on Mental & Social Health Services at Northeast Texas Community College

San Jacinto Community College landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree mental and social health services programs. Located in the large suburb of Pasadena, San Jacinto College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at San Jacinto College are $5,040 a year.

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Best Mental & Social Health Services Colleges by State

Explore the best mental and social health services colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 1,284
Arizona 2,080
Oklahoma 45
New Mexico 306

Mental & Social Health Services is one of 30 different types of healthcare programs to choose from.

Mental Health Services Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Mental Health Counseling/Counselor 7,609
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling 5,433
Other Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions 4,069
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling 3,405
Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician 2,779
Clinical/Medical Social Work 2,534
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling 2,526
Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling 328
Genetic Counseling/Counselor 288
Trauma Counseling 56
Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 13
Medical Family Therapy/Therapist 12

Related Major Annual Graduates
Nursing 322,592
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • 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.

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