Associate's degree

An associate's degree is a degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges and some bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities in Canada and the United States upon completion of a course of study equivalent to the first two years in a four-year college or university. It is the lowest in the hierarchy of academic degrees offered in these countries. Common abbreviations are AA (Associate of Arts), AS (Associate of Science) and AAS (Associate of Applied Science).

Associate's Degree

Generalized categories or types of Associate's Degrees

It is possible to break the Associate's Degree into three general categories.

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An Associate of Arts degree is often awarded for programs that are terminal or intended for transfer to a four year college, usually with a major in the social sciences or humanities. It is also awarded to General Studies students, those who decline to select an area of concentration.

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The Associate of Science degree is similarly awarded to terminal students or to potential transferees to a four years college, but the areas of concentration are usually in mathematics, natural sciences, or technology.

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The Associate of Applied Science degree is awarded to students who are permitted to relax some of the general education requirements in order to study more course work in their program area. Typically, this kind of degree is for students who intend to enter the work force upon graduation.

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Time requirements

The associate degree is most often awarded to students completing postsecondary programs requiring at least one but no more than two years of full-time study. More often, a lesser diploma, called a Certificate, is awarded for only a one year program. It is not unusual for students to study more than two years to complete the requirements for an associate's degree.

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Names of Associate's Degrees

Wittstruck (1975) notes that the associate degree goes by several different names formally:

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• Associate of/in (name of specialty)
• Associate of Applied (name of specialty)
• Associate of/in Arts
• Associate of Arts and Sciences
• Associate of/in Applied Arts
• Associate of/in Applied Science
• Associate in General Education
• Associate of/in General Studies
• Associate of Individualized Study

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• Associate in Nursing
• Associate of/in Occupational Studies
• Associate of/in Science
• Associate of Science in Nursing
• Associate in Specialized Business
• Associate in Specialized Technology
• Associate in Technical Arts
• Associate of/in Technical Studies
• Associate of/in Technology

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Data on associate degrees are frequently disaggregated by curriculum: vocational or nonvocational. The Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) counts nonvocational degrees under the category "Arts and Sciences or General Programs"; vocational degrees are counted under six headings:

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• business and commerce technologies
• data processing technologies
• health services/paramedical technologies
• mechanical/engineering technologies
• natural science technologies
• public service-related technologies

Distance Learning Associate's Degrees

Today there is a whole new category of Associates degrees which is online associate degrees. The computer age has opened up the alternative of earning your Associate degree online at any number of top accredited schools. This is a fast, efficient and generally affordable option which works particularly well for people who are working full time.

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