Best Community Colleges in Texas 2025

Badge for BEST IN TEXAS COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Published: Mar 15, 2021
Updated: Sep 30, 2024

The best community colleges provide an effective springboard into higher education, offering students high-quality two-year degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The top-rated community colleges in Texas offer a broad selection of associate’s degrees, affordable tuition rates, and strong partnerships with public four-year schools so that students can easily transfer their credits into accredited bachelor’s degree programs.

Key Takeaways

Texas has an amazing lineup of community colleges. Many students in this state prefer to study on this path to achieve their desired careers. The community college system of Texas currently serves more than 720,000 students.
Not everyone knows how great community colleges are when transitioning from college to work. Students can earn their short-term educational certificate or associate degree in just two years.
Texas has partnered with different companies and businesses to provide students an instant route toward professional jobs (entry-level).

Table of Contents

10 Best Community Colleges in Texas in 2025

Lone Star College System
Collin College
Blinn College
San Jacinto College
Navarro College
+2
Angelina College
+2
Tarrant County College
+7
Odessa College
+21
San Antonio College
–4
Galveston College
+8

2025 Ranking Update

Our Influence Ranking Engine™ leverages machine learning to track the real-world influence of colleges and universities over time. Below you’ll see which schools gained or lost ground for the 2025 school year.

In 2025, the top ten schools in our ranking of the best community colleges in Texas saw a considerable amount of shift. Odessa College gained the most ranking positions as a result of the school’s launch of the Advanced Technology and Innovation Center, which features state-of-the-art laboratories for fields such as robotics, biotechnology, and digital media, providing students with hands-on learning opportunities and cutting-edge resources. Additionally, the college has implemented the “Pathways to Success” mentorship program, partnering with local businesses and industries to offer students personalized career guidance, internships, and real-world project experiences. Odessa College has also upgraded its online learning platform by integrating virtual reality (VR) modules, allowing for immersive and interactive remote education.

We’ve identified 53 community colleges in Texas. The following list shows the best community colleges and primarily associate degree granting colleges in Texas.

Best Community Colleges in Texas

Community Colleges: Producing The Most Educated and Skilled Texans

In Texas, community colleges offer two-year associate degrees in high-demand areas like education and training, business administration, science and technology, and healthcare.

Texas also offers unique educational initiatives like development education, adult education and literacy programs, dual credit, and other short-term programs and guided pathways, all leading to entry-level professional jobs.

Because Texas has so many four-year colleges and universities, why do many students still prefer to attend a community college? What advantages and benefits do students get from enrolling in a two-year degree program?

The Benefits of Attending a Community College

Two-year community colleges provide an efficient alternative to conventional four-year colleges and universities. Many community colleges provide flexibility regarding the content and structure of the course schedule.

This is a great advantage for non-traditional students working in full or part-time positions and traditional enrollees seeking post-secondary education. Consider the benefits of enrolling in a community college to assess if this is the right educational path for you.

Cost of Tuition: Community colleges have lower tuition costs than traditional four-year colleges or universities. A lot of these types of colleges have reduced rates for in-state students, which results in a more affordable post-secondary education program. Some community colleges also offer reduced-cost certification programs compared to two-year and four-year degree programs.

Great Financial Aid Options: Aside from the low tuition costs, community colleges have financial aid incentives for eligible students who need help paying for their college tuition. Some aid also covers the cost of materials and even housing and transportation. Students can apply, too, for student loan programs, special grant programs, and academic transfer programs that usually come with lower interest rates than the usual student loans.

Greater Flexibility: When you attend a community college, you can explore higher education at your own pace. This is specifically true for those who are not yet sure what they want to major in or those who believe college is not even an affordable choice for them.

Many junior colleges also offer part-time academic coursework to allow students to attend their college classes a few days each week while still working a full-time or part-time job.

The flexibility offered at a community college also provides a better school-life balance. Students get the chance to build their schedules around their personal lives, resulting in a healthier life balance.

Trade and Vocational Focus: Most, if not all, community colleges offer vocational training programs on top of their associate degree programs. Students who want to pursue trades in health care, technology, engineering, and other vocations, can enroll in specifically designed courses that prepare them for a career.

Most of these vocational courses include programs where they can earn professional certifications in a shorter time than the established four-year degrees.

STEM Education Opportunities

Community colleges offer STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) associate degree programs that will lead to careers in-demand by many employers. With a solid ground on STEM subjects, you can solve problems, conduct research, or develop new ideas seamlessly.

Earning a two-year associate degree will help you get started quickly in your STEM-related career. Many junior colleges partner with local businesses and industries to promote job placement with your new degree. This makes it easier for you to secure a job after completing your associate’s degree program.

Ability to Transfer Credits

While community colleges do not offer four-year degree programs, they have admissions agreements with state and public colleges that allow students to transfer their credits if they want to pursue a bachelor’s degree.

Provided that the students meet the school’s requirements, they can transfer to a university or college of their choice to complete their bachelor’s program after they earn their two-year associate’s degree at a community college.

See 31-53

2021 Ranking Archive

Many of our 2024 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2023. That’s because we took a fundamentally different approach. For 2024 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.

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Best Community Colleges in Texas 2025

Key Takeaways

10 Best Community Colleges in Texas in 2025

2025 Ranking Update

Best Community Colleges in Texas

Last Year’s Ranking:

Career Outlook for degree at Lone Star College System

Career Outlook for degree at Collin College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Blinn College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at San Jacinto College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Navarro College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Angelina College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Tarrant County College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Odessa College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at San Antonio College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Galveston College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Lee College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Amarillo College

Career Outlook for degree at Kilgore College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Houston Community College

Career Outlook for degree at Wharton County Junior College

Career Outlook for degree at Central Texas College

Career Outlook for degree at Del Mar College

Career Outlook for degree at Alvin Community College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Austin Community College District

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at North Central Texas College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Temple College

Career Outlook for degree at McLennan Community College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at El Paso Community College

Career Outlook for degree at College of the Mainland

Career Outlook for degree at Paris Junior College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Victoria College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Weatherford College

Most Influential Alumni

Career Outlook for degree at Ranger College

Career Outlook for degree at Western Texas College

Most Influential Alumni

Community Colleges: Producing The Most Educated and Skilled Texans

The Benefits of Attending a Community College

STEM Education Opportunities

Ability to Transfer Credits