What are your thoughts on an Associate’s degree?

25 comments

1. I don’t really have thoughts about it. It’s a degree some people get. 🤷‍♂️

2. I think we have a lot a jobs that could be done with an associate degree

3. I think it shows initiative and effort beyond high school, and provides access to some jobs that a HS diploma or GED alone may not. Those are my thoughts.

4. AA degrees are very useful as a cheap way to transfer to a 4 year school. In our state we have a direct transfer agreement which means you can start as a junior in a 4 year school with an AA degree from a community college. I got my AA degree in high school at 17 and transfered as a junior to the UW.

5. I have a BS and I am currently pursuing an Associate’s in a different field. For my own path, I find it a great way to broaden myself and become solidly interdisciplinary. I’ve developed my writing skills on my own since completing my BS, but getting an Associate’s in English gives me the paperwork to back that up.

   I’m also working part-time as a tutor while I do that (with the possibility of becoming full-time staff at the CC). So, I’ve seen a decent cross-section of the kind of people that attend the school. I haven’t seen anyone who I don’t think benefits from getting an Associate’s.

   For some people, it’s a stepping stone to going to a university and getting a Bachelor’s. Doing those intro courses at a CC really benefits them when it comes to the transition from high school to college. They also get to do it at a much lower cost. Going this route you don’t necessarily need to complete an Associate’s before transferring, but it helps with applications and it can help beef up a resume later.

   For some students, they are trying to get into a field where going for a full Bachelor’s isn’t necessary, at least not at the start. But, getting an Associate’s makes a huge difference. A lot of the students I work with are studying to become radiology technicians or RNs. I’ve seen other schools offer thing like Paramedic, HVAC tech, vet tech, or other kinds of specialized skills. Having a Bachelor’s helps in those fields, but it isn’t 100% necessary.

   Other students just want a career transition. They’ve been working something like construction, truck driving, or other manual labor and have been doing it long enough they’ve gotten sick of it. They don’t necessarily desire to become an expert in some academic field. They just want to have enough education to land a basic non-manual labor job. A lot of this group end up doing an Associate’s in IT or something similar. They don’t want to become a software engineer designing anything crazy, they just want to understand computers well enough to fix them when they break. On a similar vein, some of them want to get good enough with Microsoft Word and Excel that they can manage some spreadsheets and documents for a company somewhere. Not necessarily becoming a CPA, but maybe being the guy who helps the CPA do his filing.

6. Associate’s degrees are free in some states or almost free with FAFSA. You can get a bachelor’s degree at half the cost with an associate’s degree if there’s a credit transfer agreement in place.

   I wish more high schoolers knew about associate’s degrees and community colleges in general.

7. I got an A.A. degree before getting my bachelor’s. It was a fine way to do general education stuff.

   I’d like to see A.S. degrees become more popular and accepted, as well as available in more fields. That seems like a good option for getting people practical training at a lower cost.

8. They’re fine, imo it’s mainly a way to set yourself apart from HS grads without committing to a full 4 year degree

9. Associate degrees for transfer to a university is the most common usage I’ve seen. There are some specific fields that only require an associates and sometimes a related certification (radiology tech, medical billing, etc), too.

10. I don’t really see a point to them except as a stepping stone to a bachelors tbh.

    Edit: to be clear I understand my perception might not be accurate. But that is my perception.

11. Undervalued and under encouraged. I think 4 year degrees are largely over desired because any profession that makes actual use out of a 4 year degree will more than likely take more than 4 years (IE STEM, Medical, Legal, ect) and those that dont are largely a waste of time and money. 2 year degrees often have a lot more practical application in them that actually prepares students for the professional world after college. I have actually worked for companies that prioritize 2 year degrees over 4 years degrees for just this reason, the 2 year degrees have actually done the things the company needs them to do with their hands, the 4 years degrees just had a lot of extra fluff theory classes.

12. It’s something more Americans should pursue instead of going into crippling debt just for the privilege of complaining about how oppressed you are on Reddit.

13. You’re misreading that statistic; 46% is the percentage of Americans with *at least* an Associate’s degree. That number also includes everyone with Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees.

    The percentage of Americans with Associate’s degrees but not Bachelor’s or higher is closer to 10%.

14. The same with any school – have a plan with it. I am all for it prior to a four year degree too. It can save you a ton.

15. Should really only go for them if you _need_ it or its on a path to higher degree.

    Degree inflation is real. Not worth the money, imo.

16. A lot of jobs like phlebotomist, nursing, mechanic, police, fire, and all kinds of trades are done with a associates.

17. Underrated. I wish I’d done it twenty years ago, but I did it.

18. Depends what it’s in. Some programs like ultrasound workers need an associates and can get a full time job after

    As associates in something like business? Useless, to be honest the corporate world looks at them like high school diplomas

19. Some careers require additional education that an associate degree provides. This concludes my Ted Talk on associates degrees.

20. The first two years of a four year degree or community college right now are supplanting what used to be base knowledge in 11th and 12th grade. What this tells me is that our high schools are failing, but I wouldn’t exactly call this news. Also, credential inflation on the part of employers, where they’re setting higher and frankly arbitrary barriers to entry just because it’s become engrained. Yet again, no surprises there.

    That said, as others here note, associates degrees are affordable ways to transfer to four year schools. It’s something of an overly broad question to just flat out ask, “so what do you think of associates degrees?”

21. I have an AA in history (in addition to a bachelor’s and master’s). Even when it was all I had, it has never helped me with employment lol except maybe as a small talking point. I was not ready for university after high school and it was a good place for me to get serious about school. If I had to do it again, I’d probably choose information systems or something else much more applied.

22. I mean, I have one (and no higher education), It sorta matters I guess?

23. My husband’s father had an associates degree, and my husband has an associates in small electronics as well as a bachelors in computer science. My dad has an associates degree and my mom started with an associates degree. She now has a masters.

    An associates degree can be useful and can open doors. More than that it can keep doors from being slammed in your face. But it’s also a great idea to get an associates on your way to a bachelors. I very nearly dropped out one semester before graduation. Had I done that I wouldn’t have had any higher level degrees. An associates is something. And when you don’t finish a bachelors it’s always possible for them to change requirements and make you take things over if you go back. But an associates is something you can have under your belt to keep.

    Whether it’s all you get or if it’s a stepping stone towards a higher degree, it’s nothing to look down on. Whether or not it’s significantly useful depends on what it’s in and what you do for a living, but I know several people who’ve gotten raises and promotions and heck, jobs – that they wouldn’t have gotten with “some college.”

24. I’ve never worked with someone with an just an associates degree tbh. I have no opinion, but I think it makes a ton of sense for something vocational and less well rounded and I don’t mean that as an insult. I would guess it would necessarily provide a lot less flexibility in terms of jobs and stuff but that doesn’t mean you won’t be good at your job. A lot of learning is on the job for most things you have a bachelors for, and it merely provides a foundation. I imagine similarly it’s true associates degrees.

25. I got an associate’s degree, and now I eat goldfish crackers, watch arrested development, and make dumb posts on the internet