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It’s Monday morning and at a job that doesn’t allow you to live up to your fullest capacity, you ‘re once again hoping to avoid the week ahead. You are in a slump. It’s time for a career shift — and you begin to think the best approach to opening those new doors is formal education. You know one thing for sure-you would prefer not to spend four years at school before starting your new career. It seems a little more achievable to spend two years or less on earning an associate degree.
But is an associate’s degree really worth it?
Or are you better off continuing to try your luck without having to apply for any?
One big decision to take is to pursue a degree. There are a lot of examinations to do, but where do you even start? We have discovered the following Q&As to help you in your research which will provide you with more insights about the associate degree option.
Read on to learn why an associate degree could be the perfect educational alternative for your life goals.
What’s an associate degree?
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree that is awarded following a two or three-year post-secondary study course. It is a grade level between a high school diploma or GED and a bachelor’s degree.
Programs offered in an associate program may be similar to those taken in a nearly equivalent bachelor’s degree program. For instance, in addition to 100- and 200-level courses, the general education prerequisites in a bachelor’s program may comprise similar courses required to complete an associate degree.
Why should I pursue an associate degree program?
There are a number of reasons why you may choose to pursue an associate degree, whether you plan to pursue your subsequent bachelor’s degree or simply want to take the first steps toward higher education while working full-time.
1. A degree in an associate’s program can help determine how you can work to handle education and personal commitments.
Discoveries in education technology have led to adaptive learning platforms and online classrooms. Students are thus given more options to help balance school, family, and work commitments. Because an associate degree requires fewer course credits than a bachelor’s, and because these are usually introductory classes, this can help to determine whether 300 and 400-level courses might fit into your schedule if you decide to pursue a bachelor’s degree program.
2. An associate degree program can lead you to earn your bachelor’s degree in the future.
Since the curriculum of an associate program is often taken from and built around several general education requirements necessary to earn a bachelor’s degree, an associate degree can help you prepare to accomplish a future bachelor’s degree. Two additional years of school may be needed to earn a bachelor’s degree after graduating as an associate; however, some online programs may allow you to earn a bachelor’s degree in as little as a total of three years.
3. Graduates of an associate degree program may see lower unemployment rates.
While no degree program can promise a career in the field you selected, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports associate degree holders to face lower rates of unemployment compared to those with a high school diploma only. Specifically, according to 2017 data, unemployment stands at 3.4 percent for those with an associate degree, while those with a high school diploma face unemployment at 4.6 percent.
What associate’s degree should I get?
Once you’ve chosen to earn an associate degree, you’ll find many options to choose from – in terms of institutions, programs, and methods of learning.
Thousands of schools across the state are awarding list of associate degrees, and there are many options to choose from in the U.S.
Accreditation by the school is one serious factor. It is essential that the proper institutions or accreditation commissions select a school that is recognized and certified. Other factors to consider when choosing an associate degree program include:
- Applicability of the degree to potential professional fields
- Costs and fees, along with your ability to pay through financial assistance, such as work, study, scholarships, grants, or loans.
- The courses offered by the program and their significance to the professional pathways you wish to pursue
- Faculty credential and/or reputation of teaching staff
- Quality of the academic and professional counseling or career programs of the school
- If you decide to continue your education, you can transfer your credit earned during an associate program into an undergraduate program.
- Your field of interest
How many credits is an associate degree?
Associate degrees are considered 2-year degrees, although some students move faster or slower based on what’s going on in their lives and how much time they want to spend on classroom activities.
Associate degrees generally require 60 credits of coursework, which equates to 20 college courses. That’s half the academic requisites for a bachelor’s degree.
Is associate degree capitalized?
The simple answer is no, you do not capitalize either of these two words if you use them descriptively in a sentence except if, of course, they are used at the beginning of the sentence when the basic capitalization rules apply.
That being said, if you are making reference to the specific degree you have earned or are earning, you should capitalize it. Title capitalization rules require you to capitalize on each word by quoting the specific name of the associate degree, such as the Associate of Science.
Remember the basic capitalization rules you learned in middle school? Well, they’re going to apply here.
Grammar rules require that we do not capitalize on common nouns such as school, house, hospital, etc. as they are general names.
The term associate degree is also a common noun. There is no particular degree called an ‘associate degree.’ It is simply a generalized form.
Nevertheless, when you give a name to the degree, it earns an identity. These are alluded to as proper nouns and should therefore be capitalized.
Where to get an associate’s degree in the US?
If you plan to transfer to a four-year college and earn a bachelor’s degree, you can earn an associate’s degree and complete half of your college credits first at a community college. This is a great choice if you want to save extra cash or get your grades up before you take a bachelor’s degree.
Schools offering associate’s degree – transfer degrees by state:
- Alabama Colleges
- Alaska Colleges
- American Samoa Colleges
- Arizona Colleges
- Arkansas Colleges
- California Colleges
- Colorado Colleges
- Connecticut Colleges
- Delaware Colleges
- District of Columbia Colleges
- Florida Colleges
- Georgia Colleges
- Hawaii Colleges
- Idaho Colleges
- Illinois Colleges
- Indiana Colleges
- Iowa Colleges
- Kansas Colleges
- Kentucky Colleges
- Louisiana Colleges
- Maine Colleges
- Maryland Colleges
- Massachusetts Colleges
- Michigan Colleges
- Minnesota Colleges
- Mississippi Colleges
- Missouri Colleges
- Montana Colleges
- Nebraska Colleges
- Nevada Colleges
- New Hampshire Colleges
- New Jersey Colleges
- New Mexico Colleges
- New York Colleges
- North Carolina Colleges
- North Dakota Colleges
- Ohio Colleges
- Oklahoma Colleges
- Oregon Colleges
- Pennsylvania Colleges
- Puerto Rico Colleges
- Rhode Island Colleges
- South Carolina Colleges
- South Dakota Colleges
- Tennessee Colleges
- Texas Colleges
- Utah Colleges
- Vermont Colleges
- Virginia Colleges
- Washington Colleges
- West Virginia Colleges
- Wisconsin Colleges
- Wyoming Colleges
Associate degrees can also provide worthwhile career training for a rising number of careers. A vocational training school provides both hands-on and general academic training to give you a well-rounded education and the skills you need to enter your desired career.
Schools offering associate’s degree – career training by state:
- Alabama Colleges
- Alaska Colleges
- American Samoa Colleges
- Arizona Colleges
- Arkansas Colleges
- California Colleges
- Colorado Colleges
- Connecticut Colleges
- Delaware Colleges
- District of Columbia Colleges
- Florida Colleges
- Georgia Colleges
- Hawaii Colleges
- Idaho Colleges
- Illinois Colleges
- Indiana Colleges
- Iowa Colleges
- Kansas Colleges
- Kentucky Colleges
- Louisiana Colleges
- Maine Colleges
- Maryland Colleges
- Massachusetts Colleges
- Michigan Colleges
- Minnesota Colleges
- Mississippi Colleges
- Missouri Colleges
- Montana Colleges
- Nebraska Colleges
- Nevada Colleges
- New Hampshire Colleges
- New Jersey Colleges
- New Mexico Colleges
- New York Colleges
- North Carolina Colleges
- North Dakota Colleges
- Ohio Colleges
- Oklahoma Colleges
- Oregon Colleges
- Pennsylvania Colleges
- Puerto Rico Colleges
- Rhode Island Colleges
- South Carolina Colleges
- South Dakota Colleges
- Tennessee Colleges
- Texas Colleges
- Utah Colleges
- Vermont Colleges
- Virgin Islands Colleges
- Virginia Colleges
- Washington Colleges
- West Virginia Colleges
- Wisconsin Colleges
- Wyoming Colleges
Final thoughts
So, is an associate degree worth it?
The FAQs above suggest the answer is “yes!”
If you’re looking for a chance to increase your career opportunities and gain potential without investing too much time and money, this could be the perfect balance for you!
Now that you know the value of earning an associate degree, you may have some doubts as to whether you really have what it takes. Let us bust your greatest excuse for putting off a degree in our article: The Best 11 Community Colleges in the US by Cost and Quality.
