Best Community Colleges in Arizona 2025

Badge for BEST IN ARIZONA COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Published: Feb 15, 2021
Updated: Oct 7, 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 Arizona 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

Many top community colleges in Arizona, such as those in the Maricopa County Community College District, offer clear and streamlined transfer agreements with Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, allowing students to transfer credits seamlessly into four-year degree programs.
Arizona’s community colleges often take advantage of the unique desert ecosystem by offering specialized programs in environmental science, sustainability, and conservation, with hands-on learning in local parks, wildlife reserves, and desert research stations.
Many Arizona community colleges provide extensive training in high-demand fields such as solar energy technology, cybersecurity, and software development, offering certifications and internships with local tech companies to prepare students for immediate entry into the workforce.

Best Community Colleges in Arizona in 2025

Mesa Community College
+1
Eastern Arizona College
+8
Phoenix College
Pima Community College
Diné College
+4
Yavapai College
–1
Cochise College
–1
Mohave Community College
+8
Scottsdale Community College
–2
Central Arizona College
–2

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 Arizona saw a substantial amount of movement. Eastern Arizona College, in particular, was able to rise to the second ranking position as a result of the college created the Renewable Energy Program, which includes new courses and hands-on training in solar and wind energy technologies, taking advantage of Arizona’s natural environment. The college has also upgraded its STEM facilities, adding advanced labs for engineering, robotics, and computer science to better equip students for careers in tech-driven industries.

We’ve identified 21 community colleges in Arizona. The following list shows the best community colleges and primarily associate degree granting colleges in Arizona.

If you’re interested in an online associate degree, visit our best online associate degrees in Alabama page.