Associate of Applied Studies

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Ed Edwards, Feb 28, 2014.

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  1. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards Member

    Is the Associate of Applied Studies degree considered a 'vocational' degree? I understand that it is not designed to transfer into a 4 year program like an AA or AS is..
     
  2. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Although typically fewer than other degree program types, many credits of an applied degree can transfer, it simply depends on what the courses are in; some applied degree programs do have courses that are not only limited to the course of study, but generally most will have courses that are at least somewhat related. For example, in an applied science Psychology program you would likely take a Marketing class, but you would be unlikely to take a class on programming, or pre-modern literature.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 28, 2014
  3. sickburn

    sickburn New Member

    My experience is that an AAS has fewer general education credits than an AA or AS and that is why it does not transfer as well. I would not worry about it. Many colleges have programs that are specifically designed to take a student from an AAS to a BS or BA (usually called degree completion programs). A school like TESC, which is very transfer friendly, will be more liberal with the 'applied' credits. For my BA at TESC they used my technical credits that comprised my AAS core as electives so to complete my BA I just needed to test out of some more general ed.
     
  4. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    That's about right. I'd add that some AAS programs have articulation agreements with 4-year schools to admit those students with advanced standing.
     
  5. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    yes, but you can create your own work-around.

    The reason an AAS is a vocational degree/doesn't transfer is because it's applied (career) classes - there is nothing for them to transfer to. For instance, if you need English 101, then in order for a class from the community college to "transfer" and "count" it has to be...you guessed it, English 101. So, if your voc program is full of career courses (like my culinary degree) it's not that it isn't legit or unrecognized, it's just a matter of wanting apples to become oranges. So- your work around is to simply take gen eds along with/before/after your AAS degree that will "count" in a bachelor's degree. Your CC will put them on your transcript, and they'll likely transfer without incident. Your AAS might already include about 15 gen eds, so just add to that. If you don't have the time or desire to do that, you can add in gen ed CLEP exam credit too. So- your AAS will likely be something like 75 credits WITHOUT the extra gen eds, so by using CLEP instead of classes to do this, you'll save a bundle of money.

    In addition, some (not many- but a few) AAS degrees can count into a bachelor program like Rich said. The phrase he used "articulation agreement" is a formal thing- you can search your school's website and find it. You have to SPECIFICALLY do the agreement for it to work- you can't just create your own agreement. These are good for many fields where they are tying in related fields. For instance, an AAS in culinary is sometimes rolled into a BPS (Bachelor Professional Studies) or BS in Hospitality Management. All articulation agreements are not the same, and sometimes all it gets you is an admission ticket to an over-priced school. I've noticed many bachelor degrees in my field that are simply articulation agreements with the gen eds coming on the BACK of the degree- in other words, earn your culinary degree at your local community college, then pay us 50k for the gen eds, and you'll get a BS. They call BS Bachelor of Science, I call it another kind of BS...but anyway...

    I had an AOS (same thing) and after looking at it every which way, it was actually FASTER and CHEAPER for me to start from scratch-test out of all my gen eds, and earn a brand new AA degree. I did that plus my BA at TESC, and the whole process from 0 credit to 120 was only 18 months for fewer than $5k (it's a bit more now). But, there are options.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 28, 2014
  6. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    Bellevue University (my alma mater) will accept just about any type of accredited associates degree (including AAS) in transfer to any one of their online bachelors degree programs.

    Community College Transfers | Bellevue University

    A little off topic here, but Bellevue will also accept a number of free FEMA ISI courses (which may be completed online). I transferred in my AS in Liberal Studies degree from Excelsior along w/ 24 FEMA credits and some other random credits from various schools. I ended up only needing to complete 45 credits through Bellevue (36 for my major and 9 for their "Kirkpatrick series").
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 28, 2014
  7. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards Member

    Thats good
     
  8. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    I rolled my AAS (Electrical Technology) into a BS in Multidisciplinary Studies. I can't remember off top how everything lined up, but my electrical theory, MIS and electronics class fell under the engineering/computational science cognate, and I took some business classes for my second cognate.

    You can also look at technology and bachelors in applied science (BAS) degree programs.
     
  9. BobbyJim

    BobbyJim New Member

    A number of schools offer bachelors completion degrees that allow transfer of AAS degrees (or just non-traditional course work) into a BAAS, BAS, BTech or similar named degrees. (Not all of these are distance programs.)

    Examples:
    Texas State University system
    Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences : Department of Occupational, Workforce, and Leadership Studies : Texas State University

    Ohio University
    eCampus

    University of Houston system
    University of Houston-Victoria | Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (B.A.A.S.)

    Boise State University
    BAS Degree Requirements | College of Arts and Sciences
     
  10. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards Member

    This is good info. What I am gleaning is that while not specifically designed as an 'academic' credential there are enough options open if you work at it to keep it from being a purely 'vocational' exercise..
     
  11. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards Member


    75 seconds later..Good info...
     
  12. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards Member

    more good info supporting my thoughts above..
     
  13. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    These programs are job training type programs. They are directly tied to industries and fields to get you working. The credit is job specific, so unless you TAKE math, English, psychology, etc. then you can't later expect a school to waive those credits. The credit/degree feature allows people to use financial aid, as opposed to the adult ed/continuing ed career training programs. It's when people expect these degrees to transfer without understanding limitations, that there can be problems.
     
  14. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    At the risk of sounding repetitive, there are some schools (e.g. Bellevue) that will accept an associates (including an AAS) in its entirety and award 60 credits to ANY of their bachelors degree programs.
     
  15. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    Yep. All the credits (plus a few extra) from my first AAS transferred to my BS through Embry-Riddle.
     
  16. Ed Edwards

    Ed Edwards Member

    Yep. It is a hard thing to understand when you think you get a 'degree' and then are told it is really something else..
     
  17. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    No, you're right. But that is a special utilization of an AAS/AOS degree. In other words, you'd have to look for a school that did this, it's not the norm. In fact, if you went state by state, you'd probably find that 99% of the community college AAS/AOS degrees do NOT articulate into the same state universities that the AA/AS degrees do. Probably higher than 99% actually.

    Community colleges, in my opinion, are guilty by omission when it comes to the students having good understanding of the limits of AAS degrees. In fact, I've been spending the past 2 months doing my thesis which involves checking every CC in the country, and the OVERWHELMING majority list AA/AS and AAS/AOS degrees on the same list of "programs" or "degrees" as if they are equal. There is always a nice little sentence somewhere about how these degrees are intended for immediate career readiness/job etc.... which sounds very much like marketing until you realize that what that really means in college-speak is that they are never intended to transfer into a university. I found a few in culinary (which is what I'm researching) but they were 75, 85, 95, or more credits to do so. It's ridiculous really. I dont think I ever had a student in 18 years who knew that their degree didn't transfer- of course I didn't start talking to them about it until I learned it myself. I'd already been at the college about 10 years before I knew.

    Ed- people here are trying to help. There are work-arounds. They are not always obvious, but people here have an "above average" understanding of things like this simply because....well, I don't know....probably because we're edu-geeks. I am anyway. I happen to be an edu-geek who learned this the hard way, so that's why I have a strong motivation to inform on the topic. Yes, there are a few work arounds. You can probably find at least one that will work for you. What field or industry are you in?
     
  18. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Not shocked by this.
    When someone asks you "do you have a watch?" What information they seek is the time, not if you actually have a watch. People know this, it's how our culture works. Colleges, not so much. In this scenario, the college would answer "yes." It is on the student to THEN ask, "what time is it?" And then they'd answer. The college knows the average person doesn't know every question to ask, but they are under no obligation to educate you on every potential pro/con of each program either. So, it's kinda hard to say they do anything "wrong" by offering up add'l information.

    You were probably not lied to, but I'm confident no one ever sat you down to explain the limits of your degree, that's not a good marketing strategy and it wouldn't be realistic. They have no way of knowing what your future plans are, and how to consider all contingencies, so what's left? I don't know.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 1, 2014
  19. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    Perhaps acceptance of an AAS towards a BS depends on the degree (and the college).
    For example Excelsior's AAS in Technical Studies meet s half the requirements for their BS in Technology.

    And 20 of the courses are gen ed and another 20 (free electives) could be gen ed courses.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 1, 2014

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