Best path to AA at Big 3 then to BA/BS?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Countertenor, Jul 14, 2021.

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  1. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    At Leicester, in the Centre for Labour Market Studies (where I did my doctorate), they didn't even offer a bachelor's. But they did offer a certificate and a diploma. These could be used to be admitted to graduate study. The CLMS offered master's degrees, and a master's was a prerequisite for admission to the doctoral program.

    The CLMS was a stand-alone program when I enrolled, but was subsequently folded into the School of Business, which does offer a full array of bachelor's degrees in business-related subjects.
     
  2. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Thank goodness I did neither!
     
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  3. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    That's why I went with the Pierpont degree myself. I didn't NEED it. I'm going for Bachelor's at TESU. But it is nice to be able to say "Yes, I have my Associate's degree" even if it's ultimately meaningless to everyone except me.
     
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  4. sideman

    sideman Well Known Member

    Really?! An associates degree is not a degree?! So what's next? A whopper without meat? Impossible.

    But seriously folks. I think some of you need to rethink this, as in give this some real thought. Whether it's considered a degree somewhere else or called by another name is immaterial, here in the states it is a degree. It's approximately 20 courses or 60 semester hours (don't get me on the quarter hour nonsense) and when finished a degree is proffered. Now is it going to impress everyone? Well it certainly doesn't seem to impress some of the advanced degree holders here on DegreeInfo, who by the way should be encouraging those that come to this website to get a degree, and if it just so happens to be an associates, well then so be it. Not everyone is going to reach the upper echelon of academics. And let me let you in on a little secret....Not everyone cares to. So let's continue to be what people that come on this website expect us to be....Forward Thinking.

    Thank you and now carry on.
     
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    That's true. Fair enough.
     
  6. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Considering that I'm the one who brought up the contrarian notion regarding the associate's being a real degree, I'm going to respond and object.

    I think it is condescending and rude to tell people to "give it some real thought." How do you know that has not occurred? Because you don't agree? You don't offer any actual substance to refute what was written.

    I posted several elements describing where the associate's fails as a degree. Instead of being insulting, you could decide to respond to any of those.

    The reason I posted what I did about the associate's is because the original premise presented--going for an AA before moving on to a bachelor's--is flawed. It's not necessary, and it's superfluous. No one said "don't get an associate's" as a general policy, not even me.

    Finally, I don't appreciate you--or anyone else--taking the mantle for speaking for the community--or telling the community what it should say. I'm one of this board's original posters. I'm also one of its most prolific posters. I hold a PhD in this exact field (along with several other DL degrees, including TWO ASSOCIATE'S), and I have counseled and coached literally thousands of individuals on this topic as it applies to their lives. And still, I would not dream of speaking for the group or telling the group what its members should have to say to others. It's not my place. But perhaps it is yours.
     
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  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Absent some other motivation, I agree. I could have had an Associate degree one semester before I finished my Bachelor degree (I put off a difficult general ed until near the end) but by then I saw no point. I'd have done it had it been free, but there would have been an additional graduation fee, which wouldn't at all have been worth it.

    Virginia has guaranteed transfer admission to its four year universities (some of which are among the best regarded in the country) for those who complete an Associate degree at a Virginia community college with a B average or better. Now that is worth it. But it's also a special case.
     
  8. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I mentioned the unique element of the presence of an articulation agreement.

    I earned my first AA by sending Regents (now Excelsior) a DANTES transcript loaded with testing credits. I didn't do anything (except pay the then-$75 graduation fee) else for it. For my second, with Community College of the Air Force, I didn't bother for a long time. I was one class short, even though I had two bachelor's degrees by that time. Right before I entered Officer Training School, which would have rendered me ineligible to earn the degree, I completed a course in my MBA that happened to meet the CCAF requirement I was missing. So, I took the thing from CCAF even though I was in grad school. Neither associate's degree has meant a single thing anywhere in my career or life. But this is true of just about every recipient who subsequently goes on to earn a bachelor's degree.
     
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  9. smartdegree

    smartdegree Active Member

    Well, you do now have the benefit of being part of the CCAF and Excelsior alumni networks for basically no cost. Who knows, one day that might come in handy...you might get invited to free alumni events with free food :)
     
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  10. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    I can't imagine either "alumni network" having any value to me. Ever.
     
  11. Courcelles

    Courcelles Active Member

    If you hadn’t commissioned, isn’t a CCAF degree a de facto requirement to get above a certain enlisted rank?

    I can also see going out of the way for an associates in certain fields where the standard for initial entry is such a degree, what’s coming to mind is if someone wants to become an RN. Sure, there’s programs out there that qualify for licensure and result in a higher degree at the same time, even at a DNP level entry, but most new nurses qualify with the associates at community colleges.

    And as SteveForester says, there’s a lot of places an AA can offer guaranteed admission or easy block transfer within a state system. Which can also help someone rehabilitate a terrible high school record. Or serve as something for someone who has no high school diploma.

    (Which I had. My parents were ultra-conservative and put me in a fundamentalist high school. The kind where not insisting dinosaurs are Satan trying to trick us causes you to fail “science” and “history”.)

    I’m kind of rambling, but my point: There are a few use cases where the associates provides specific benefits. Outside of those, it’s not worth incurring expense and effort for.

    But if you just want one, why not look at Pierpoint’s BOG AAS. It’s free, other than sending them transcripts, if you can meet the credit distribution requirements.
     
  12. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    No.

    There was a time when getting a CCAF associate's was considered de rigueur for promotion to the two highest grades, Senior and Chief Master Sergeant. But this was never a rule, and many people were promoted without it. (Not to mention the fact that it was quite common for candidates for those grades had higher education beyond the associate's.) There was an initiative recently to instruct promotion boards to those two grades to weigh equally degrees from other institutions besides CCAF. So the trend is actually moving in the opposite direction.
     
  13. sideman

    sideman Well Known Member

    I see. Let me clarify my post:

    (1). I posted, "Really?! An associates degree is not a degree?!" I was viewing it literally. How can something that has "degree" in the description, not be a degree? It just strikes me as prima facie. If it says degree then it is a degree until proven otherwise.

    (2) When I said, "I think some of you need to rethink this. as in give this some real thought." My intent was to have those that view an associates degree (even those that currently have one) as something less than a real degree, should give it more than just a cursory thought and dismiss this thought without diving deeper. Obviously, you gave it more than just a cursory thought. You were not my target audience. But I can see in retrospect how it can be taken the wrong way.

    (3) When I said, "So let's continue to be what people that come on this website expect us to be....Forward Thinking." I meant as opposed to Backwards Thinking. There's enough of that already in our society. It's taken a long time for distance education to get a modicum of respect within the general public. It was posted as a reminder that a trait of human nature is to not change, and to just accept things the way they are. Never challenge ideas, especially about education. I believe that this site gives options and alternatives that no one has even considered before. I have faith that the persons that read this can determine for themselves how they react to this comment. I stated an opinion and I would not be that presumptous to assume that everyone is now going to say what I want them to say, or even do what I want them to do. That's folly. I should have been more clear in the original post. Most newbies that come to this forum are typically persons that have at least somewhat of an interest in distance learning and are seeking an answer to their question. Now, do I believe that sometimes threads go off the rails and the OP gets lost in the discussion, just so someone can prove or disprove a point? Or promote their own agenda? Absolutely. But what I stated is just simply my opinion. It's up to the reader or OP to determine whether it has any bearing on their situation.

    (4) And lastly I'll share one more quote, "You may wish to go to the DegreeInfo.com website to get and post updates....this site offers much useful information....This is a great way to both access up-to-the minute school information and make your thoughts, opinions, and discoveries known." This comes from Bears Guide To Earning Degrees by Distance Learning (15th Edition). This is what originally spoke to me to join this community. I'd like to think that what Dr. Bear expressed then still holds true today.
     
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