Find Tech Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

17 Colleges
$13,336 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Information Technology Basic Certificate School for You

With 40,555 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, information technology is the #3 most popular major in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which computer science program is right for you. 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.

The Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region ranking is one of many tools that Computer Science Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 17 schools in the Southwest Region to see which basic certificate programs offered the best value experiences for IT students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region

Check out the IT basic certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Collin County Community College District the best value school in the Southwest Region for information technology students working on their basic certificate. Located in the medium-sized suburb of McKinney, Collin County Community College District is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Collin County Community College District are $5,104 a year.

Collin County Community College District did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Read full report on Information Technology at Collin County Community College District

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Phoenix - Arizona. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. UOPX - Arizona is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the city of Tempe.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UOPX - Arizona are $9,552 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UOPX - Arizona is ranked #2 for overall quality for IT in the Southwest Region .

Read full report on Information Technology at University of Phoenix - Arizona

#3

El Centro College

Dallas, TX

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means El Centro College is a great value for information technology students working on their basic certificate. El Centro College is a very large public school located in the city of Dallas.

El Centro College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,000 in tuition and fees each year.

El Centro College not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Full Information Technology at El Centro College Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Phoenix - Texas is a great value for information technology students working on their basic certificate. UOPX - Texas is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Houston.

UOPX - Texas undergraduate students pay an average of $9,552 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Information Technology at University of Phoenix - Texas Report

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Pima Community College is a great value for information technology students working on their basic certificate. Located in the city of Tucson, Pima County Community College District is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Pima County Community College District are $7,566 a year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Pima Community College

Tarrant County College District ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County College is a public college with a very large student population.

Tarrant County College undergraduate students pay an average of $8,235 in tuition and fees each year.

Tarrant County College not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Read full report on Information Technology at Tarrant County College District

#7

Oklahoma City Community College

Oklahoma City, OK

Oklahoma City Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for information technology students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Oklahoma City, OCCC is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at OCCC are $9,810 a year.

Read full report on Information Technology at Oklahoma City Community College

Texas State Technical College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for information technology students to get a basic certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. TSTC is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Waco.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at TSTC are $11,369 a year.

Full Information Technology at Texas State Technical College Report

#9

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

Grand Canyon University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Information Technology Basic Certificate Schools in the Southwest Region list. Grand Canyon University is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the city of Phoenix.

Grand Canyon University undergraduate students pay an average of $17,189 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Information Technology at Grand Canyon University Report

Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value basic certificate information technology programs. Located in the city of Oklahoma City, OSU-OKC is a public college with a small student population.

OSU-OKC undergraduate students pay an average of $10,908 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Information Technology at Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City Report

Best Information Technology Colleges by State

Explore the best information technology colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 1,208
Arizona 811
Oklahoma 53
New Mexico 36

One of 10 majors within the computer science area of study, information technology has other similar majors worth exploring.

IT Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Computer & IS Security 22,829
Network & System Administration/Administrator 5,501
Information Technology Management 4,009
Computer Support Specialist 3,176
System, Networking, & LAN/WAN Management/Manager 2,077
Information Technology Project Management 2,076
Web/Multimedia Management & Webmaster 887

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Information Systems 88,434
Computer Science 59,565
Information Science 18,325
Computer Systems Networking 14,700
Computer Software & Applications 14,336

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 17 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Craig Dennis.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Computer Science Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited computer and technology colleges across the U.S.