Best Online Associate in Sociology

Badge for BEST ONLINE ASSOCIATE'S IN SOCIOLOGY

Updated: Nov 22, 2023

Find top-ranked online associate in sociology degree programs for students wanting to move on to undergraduate degrees, or for others that want to secure jobs such as youth counselors, employment specialists, and program coordinators.

Top 10 Online Sociology Associate Degrees

City College of San Francisco
Albany State University
New England College
Massachusetts Bay Community College
Blinn College
Volunteer State Community College
Front Range Community College
Sacramento City College
Pima Community College
Allan Hancock College

City College of San Francisco
Sacramento City College
New England College
Albany State University
Blinn College
College of Southern Nevada
Saddleback College
Pima Community College
Brookdale Community College
Lansing Community College

New England College 100%

Blinn College 35 to 1
Coastline Community College 30 to 1
Bakersfield College 28 to 1
Sacramento City College 25 to 1
Saddleback College 24 to 1
Volunteer State Community College 24 to 1
Allan Hancock College 22 to 1
Union College 22 to 1
Front Range Community College 21 to 1
Albany State University 20 to 1

New England College $41,518
Union College $10,562
Brookdale Community College $7,755
Lansing Community College $6,840
Lincoln Land Community College $6,456
Community College of Baltimore County $5,784
Murray State College $4,830
Volunteer State Community College $4,104
Albany State University $4,064
Front Range Community College $3,754

New England College $13,678
Albany State University $3,438

Northwest College
Union College
Mendocino College
Community College of Baltimore County
College of Southern Nevada
Saddleback College
Murray State College
Coastline Community College
Paradise Valley Community College
Bakersfield College

Union College
Mendocino College
Northwest College
Paradise Valley Community College
Tulsa Community College
Massachusetts Bay Community College
Arizona Western College
Lincoln Land Community College
Volunteer State Community College
Murray State College

New England College 100%

New England College 7 to 1
Paradise Valley Community College 11 to 1
Lansing Community College 12 to 1
Northwest College 13 to 1
Massachusetts Bay Community College 13 to 1
Community College of Baltimore County 14 to 1
Mendocino College 14 to 1
Lincoln Land Community College 15 to 1
Murray State College 15 to 1
College of Southern Nevada 17 to 1

Massachusetts Bay Community College $576
Allan Hancock College $1,104
Coastline Community College $1,104
Saddleback College $1,288
Bakersfield College $1,380
Mendocino College $1,380
Paradise Valley Community College $2,040
Pima Community College $2,136
Arizona Western College $2,760
Tulsa Community College $2,797

Albany State University $3,438
New England College $13,678

Table of Contents

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Sociology Degrees

An associate degree in sociology can be the first step toward a thought-provoking career spent exploring culture, society and the distribution of resources. Consisting of about 60 credits, this two-year degree can be earned either online or in person.

Whether you choose the Associate of Arts or Associate of Science path, you will study topics like public policy, civics, and contemporary social issues. Additionally, students will learn research methods and analytically explore topics like criminology, statistics, and political economies.

Graduates often move on to undergraduate degrees, but others secure jobs such as youth counselors, employment specialists, and program coordinators.

Learn more about how to major in sociology.

How do we determine the best online sociology associate's degree programs?

Methodology

Pursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.

If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

Best Online Associate’s in Sociology Degree Programs

Career Outlook for Students with Sociology Degree

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Sociology

Degree Level: Associate's

Location: The U.S. (Private Schools)
Avg. Cost of Degree*: $1,624
Avg. Expenses*: $14,200
Avg. Starting Salary*: $16,893
Avg. Salary after 4 Years*: $33,078
Avg. Cost Recoup Time**: 6 years
Job Growth: 5.74%
Number of Jobs: 1,339,400
* denotes ‘annually’
** denotes ‘at 15% of annual salary’

Career Salaries

Career	Job Growth	Avg. Salary
Managers, All Other	5.75%	$133,560
Sociologists	9.09%	$101,770
Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary	3.11%	$82,670
Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other	2.46%	$77,750
Social Science Research Assistants	6.40%	$56,400

Top Industries

Industry	Avg. Salary
Managers, All Other	$133,560
Sociologists	$101,770
Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary	$82,670
Social Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary, All Other	$77,750
Social Science Research Assistants	$56,400

Data from The Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Department of Education College Scorecard, The Department of Education NCES, and The Council for Community and Economic Research.

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require a time of adjustment. Although you’ll typically learn the same material and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, going online will require greater independence and responsibility than going in person. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, for harnessing the online educational technology that you’ll need to use, and for completing the course requirements, such as listening to lectures, learning lessons, reading texts, and handing in assignments. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take the initiative in building relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.

No. The only part of online education that’s easier than campus-based education is ease of access: all you need is a computer and an internet connection for online education. But even this seeming advantage of online education can be misleading: what’s easier, studying online with your computer and internet connection from your home where you need to cook, clean, pay rent, and maintain a job? Or studying on campus in a dorm where all your living needs are handled by the school, and college staff are there to help you every step of the way?

If you take the commute to campus out of the equation, campus-based education is easier. All the support structures available on campus for students, especially with real people to help you in person, are not there online. The demands on you as an online student will largely be the same as for your campus-based counterpart, but without the same helps.

In general, your online courses will present the same material and test you in the same way as traditional in-person courses. In many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning with remote educational technology for the first time, online college may be considerably more challenging than campus-based college. For a few insights on how to manage this new online experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.

Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable non-profit institutions on the one end and less-than-reputable for-profit institutions on the other end. Accreditation gives you the power to identify the more reputable actors in online education. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency indicating that a college or university is meeting standards of quality and credibility. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.

Attending a college or university that is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. For students seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that they opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree. For more on this important topic, check out our What is Accreditation and Why Does It Matter? College & University Accreditation Guide.

As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited (see the previous point), you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer of credits. In many cases, you will encounter some bureaucratic haggling in which some of your credits will be transferred and others may be refused. However, provided that you have attended an online school with recognized regional accreditation, you should be in good shape in transferring your credits earned online.

In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript, or resumé differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.

Some employers may express the concern that because you did your degree online, you may need to transition from an online education experience to in-person workplace experience. But in an age of Covid, that concern seems much diminished. The fact is that much employment these days is remote. And collaboration increasingly happens online over Zoom. Many employers will therefore view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.

If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will be less than ideal for you (though depending on your circumstances, it may also be the only viable option).

While there is much in traditional campus-based education that can be substituted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing that can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual in-person classroom setting. As you transition to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face in getting the most out of your online classes is overcoming this difference between “real reality” and “virtual reality.” Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.

The advantages of online classes are many. Above all, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete at your own pace and on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.

Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.

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Best Online Associate in Sociology

Top 10 Online Sociology Associate Degrees

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Sociology Degrees

Why get an associate in sociology?

What will you be learning while getting an associate in sociology?

What can you do with an associate in sociology?

Best Online Associate’s in Sociology Degree Programs

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at City College of San Francisco

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Albany State University

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Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Massachusetts Bay Community College

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Blinn College

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Volunteer State Community College

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Front Range Community College

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Sacramento City College

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Concentrations

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Pima Community College

Online Degrees

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Allan Hancock College

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Brookdale Community College

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Lincoln Land Community College

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Arizona Western College

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Tulsa Community College

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Lansing Community College

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Bakersfield College

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Paradise Valley Community College

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Coastline Community College

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Murray State College

Online Degrees

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Saddleback College

Online Degrees

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Career Outlook for Sociology degree at College of Southern Nevada

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Community College of Baltimore County

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Mendocino College

Online Degrees

Concentrations

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Union College

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Sociology degree at Northwest College

Online Degrees

Career Outlook for Students with Sociology Degree

Sociology

Degree Level: Associate's

Career Salaries

Top Industries

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

What can I expect from an online college course?+

Is online college easier than campus-based college?+

Why does accreditation matter in online college?+

Will I be able to transfer my online college degree?+

Will employers respect my online degree?+

What are the disadvantages of online classes?+

What are the advantages of online classes?+