Hello, everyone. I trully wish to acquire an associates degree first then bachelors degree second. I am so glad that I found this site, I started to apply to the UoP but after reading certain replies, I am not going to. Does anyone know of a fully regionally accredited degree program that is not expensive. I do not want to sound cheap but I am financing my IT education myself. My current occupation is Oracle DBA with over 10 years of solid IT experience. A degree will be nice to have as a backup. Honestly, I was going to enroll ACCIS who is DETC accreditted, after viewing the replies posted here, I have second thoughts. Even when I enrolled into a program, I plan to use the degree for advancement, I do not want to experience any negative feedback on the validity of the degree. Thanks in advance for your comments/answers. Rusty
If you want an associate's degree, then you'll probably want to go to a state community college; this is often a very economical solution if you pick one in your state. Some of them have DL programs as well. The AA degree will be much more portable to a senior college. Many AS programs are considered terminal degrees and have poor portability. Ask about any articulation agreements with state universities before enrolling. You might want to go to the IT Forum, reachable at the bottom of the screen on the thread page ("Jump Forum"). If you search there, you will probably find much more IT info. and more IT folks.
I'm not sure about that. All my A.S. credits transferred to my B.A. program, without any problem at all. I've always thought that a professional Associate's degree was the A.A.S. (Associate of Applied Science). Bruce
Many AS programs are vocational, such as CAD/CAM. Many of the credits are likely not to be accepted in transfer to a BA or BS program. Some AS programs cover material that would be covered in more depth in an upper division course in a BA or BS program; I think this may happen in IT-oriented programs. Some of these courses may be rejected. Of course there will be exceptions. If a particular school has little difference between their AA and AS programs, portability may not be an issue and mileage may vary. That is why it is important to look at the articulation agreements between the community colleges and the state universities. In Florida, it is mandated by law that AA degree credits from florida community colleges will be accepted (assuming a 'C' or above grade) whereas the AS programs do not have such a guarantee: http://www.ucf.edu/catalog/9900/Florida_Community_College_Transfer_Guide/home.html and http://www.advising.ufl.edu/transfer/aatransfer.html. Even some engineering programs follow this lead: http://www.eng.ufl.edu/home/sssc/cc/. DL programs are not exempted: http://www.eog.state.fl.us/institute/art&trf.html. Of course, the AA program has some statewide consistency in support of this mandate.
I guess the rule of thumb may be: The more general education credits you have in your AA/AS/AAS, the more credit you are likely to transfer into a BS/BA. Its the other credits you have (courses toward major,elective courses,etc.) that sometimes have trouble finding its way into a Bachelors degree because of a strict curriculum. Don't think just because you have an AS or even an AAS that you won't be able to transfer the credit towards a BS or BA. You just may not find ALL of your 60 something credits transfer.. Although I have seen a few colleges offer a degree called a BAS (Bachelor of Applied Science). Seems to be specifically for AAS degree holders who wish to pursue a bachelors w/o being set back a year taking 2nd year courses. Just like the AAS it is heavy in the degree major and a little light on general education. A 4 year occupational degree, if you will. Granted, I don't know how good of an alternative this degree is to a traditional BS (would you have luck trying to land a job that normally requires a BS degree?). What do you guys think? Best Regards, Bill
