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Community colleges in Arizona

There are 9 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Arizona reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $2,280 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Arizona, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in Arizona

  1. Tohono O'odham Community CollegeSells$932
  2. Dine CollegeTsaile$1,410
  3. Cochise County Community College DistrictSierra Vista$2,280
  4. Paradise Valley Community CollegePhoenix$2,358
  5. Community Christian CollegeQuartzsite$9,675

Full Arizona cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in Arizona

  1. Paradise Valley Community CollegePhoenix5,117
  2. Cochise County Community College DistrictSierra Vista3,096
  3. Pima Medical Institute-TucsonTucson2,567
  4. Universal Technical Institute of Arizona IncAvondale1,957
  5. Dine CollegeTsaile1,375

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. Community Christian CollegeQuartzsite67%
  2. Universal Technical Institute of Arizona IncAvondale1%

Arizona transfer guide →

All 9 community colleges in Arizona

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Brookline College-TempeTempe282—
Cochise County Community College DistrictSierra Vista3,096$2,280
Community Christian CollegeQuartzsite424$9,675
Dine CollegeTsaile1,375$1,410
Paradise Valley Community CollegePhoenix5,117$2,358
Pima Medical Institute-MesaMesa705—
Pima Medical Institute-TucsonTucson2,567—
Tohono O'odham Community CollegeSells998$932
Universal Technical Institute of Arizona IncAvondale1,957—

About community college in Arizona

Arizona's 9 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Arizona community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Arizona routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Arizona's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.