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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.

Top 10 Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Alvin Community College the best value school in the Southwest Region for mental and social health services students working on their associate degree. Alvin is a small public school located in the 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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend El Centro College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at El Centro College are $6,000 per 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 also made our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, coming in at #3.

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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 medium-sized student population.

Lee College undergraduate students pay an average of $4,302 in tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Houston Community College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Houston Community College is a very large public school located in the city of Houston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Houston Community College are $5,460 per 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 also claimed a spot on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

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Out of the 27 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Wharton County Junior College landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the distant town of Wharton, Wharton County Junior College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

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

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Wharton County Junior College also did well on our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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#6

Lone Star College System

The Woodlands, TX

Lone Star College System landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value associate degree mental and social health services programs. North Harris Montgomery is a fairly large public school located in the city of The Woodlands.

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

North Harris Montgomery 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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#7

Tyler Junior College

Tyler, TX

Tyler Junior College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the city of Tyler, Tyler Junior College is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Tyler Junior College are $4,440 a 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.

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#8

Kilgore College

Kilgore, TX

Kilgore College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Kilgore College is a moderately-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.

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#9

Northeast Texas Community College

Mount Pleasant, TX

Northeast Texas Community College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the rural area of Mount Pleasant, NTCC is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NTCC are $6,449 per year.

NTCC also made our Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, coming in at #4.

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With a ranking of #10, San Jacinto 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 suburb of Pasadena, San Jacinto College is a public school with a fairly large student population.

San Jacinto College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,040 in tuition and fees each 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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