Is a Associate Degree useless?

In a word, yes.

 

The associate's degree has limited value. Off the top of my head, an associate's degree would be helpful in the following fields:

Nursing (by far, the best associate's degree)
IT
Dental Assistant/Technician
Medical Assistant/Technician
Paraprofessional
Paralegal

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=best+associates+degree&btnG=Search

 

I would add that for the adult student who is returning to school part-time, the Associates degree is a good stepping-stone.

Shawn

 

ALL accredited degrees have value.

 

I'll throw in two cents and say:

An associate's degree is better than no degree, but the bachelor's is typically the professional standard.

There are studies that show how much people make at various degree levels. Those holding associate's degrees earn more than those holding only high school diplomas, bachelor's degrees holders earn even more, and so on. Similar studies exist for unemployment chances, but I believe those numbers don't start until the bachelor's level (i.e. your chances of not being unemployed go up if you have a bachelor's).

 

I had a similar experience at Fort Drum, right before I got out. When I turned around and they saw my Big Red One combat patch, that shut them up pretty quickly.

 

An associates degree is an asset (and sometimes required) to test, quality, and CAD technicians in industry.

 

This depends a lot on the field. For construction for example, all you need is an AA if you want to work as an electrician or plumber. The same can be said for technical support and mechanics, most companies would look for technical skills rather than higher degrees.

For some fields in can be useless. I can think about psychology or social sciences. In psychology, everything less than a PhD or Masters is pretty useless as the PhD is the minimum requirement for most states for licensing purposes.

 

I have a BS degree but I'm actually going to finish an AA degree from Penn State in the spring. For me, it's simply for personal reasons. I'm from Pennsylvania and Penn State is where I started college. I didn't do great there but did manage to accumulate credits. I moved to the west coast, took some classes and exams and finished a BS at Excelsior.

I did the math and realized that I only need 2 classes to get an AA degree from Penn State in Letters, Arts and Sciences. I've always regretted not doing well when I was there and not graduating from Penn State. Getting my AA from there will accomplish that goal and will add a little name recognition to my list of degrees.

 

What are the requirements for the degree? A little bit of everything?

 

My Navy training, A.A.S. degree and two certificates have worked well for me. I guess it all depends on what field a person is working in. I'm working on a bachelors degree as a personal goal of mine.

I work in the oil industry and the average salary for a person in operation is about 65k-70k. Hell, I made 95k this year. I don't know many people with bachelors and master degrees that can say that.

 

Yes. You need to earn credits in humaniities, social science and arts as well as some writing courses and math/science. It is a little of everything and it worked out for me as it's basically everything you'd need to take to fill general education requirements for a bachelors degree. PSU requires that over half of the courses be taken at PSU (or via their distance learning campus). I'm taking two writing courses in the spring which will help me get back into writing for my graduate courses I'm starting in the summer.

 

My Associates degree allowed me to get a decent job in my field, earning enough money so that I could afford to live on my own and earn my Bachelors degree. I'll never regret earning that Associates degree.

 

Great post!

I am very interested in your remark of tolerance over cultivation...as I am an active duty Airman, looking for a commission as well...

I would love to here more!

Thanks!

Chris

 

What an excellent thread! This kind of dialogue is what makes Degreeinfo tick.

Is an Associate Degree useless? The posts here indicate that the answer is "no". As someone who has worked full-time at both community colleges and universities during my 21-year career in higher ed, I would echo the sentiments here that a great many people derive personal and/or professional worth from their associates degree. I know scores of them.

Rather than repeat the fields for which an associates is the typical terminal degree (others have done that here quite capably), let me just offer two more observations:

• Several bachelors degree completion programs (including one at a former institution of mine) will consider A.A. degree holders as having completed the general education requirements for the degree.

• I have several friends who have more than 90 semester units of college credits, but no associates or bachelors. An associates degree trumps "some college" on most applications.

• I work for a multi-institution system that awards certificates and associate, bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. Our job placement rate is above 99%. Two of our institutions award primarily A.S. degrees and our graduates do quite well in their careers, particularly those in culinary, hospitality, I.T. and medical-related careers.

• Research studying the California Community College system (and replicated in other parts of the country found that students transferring to universities after having completed two years at the community college had significantly higher GPAs during their junior year than students who had been freshmen and sophomores at the university.

I used my associates degree as a "stepping stone" or "placeholder" on my way to higher degrees, but I never found it to be useless. I have seen no reason to exclude it from my resume. In fact, when I applied for a full-time position at a community college, my possession of an A.A. degree was seen as an advantage, since that was an indicator that I understood the community college environment.

I don't often disagree with my colleague Dr. Rich Douglas, but I can state with assurity that the U.S. Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-structure-us.html, all of the regional accrediting bodies (e.g. http://www.sacscoc.org/forms/principle/Summary%20Form%20for%20Commission%20Review.doc), CHEA http://www.chea.org/Directories/regional.asp, every higher education institution that I have studied at or worked for, and the ones that granted Rich his two associates degrees, all consider the associates to be a "real degree".

I would be willing to be that the terms "placeholder," "stepping stone" or "pseudo" are not to be found on either Rich's transcripts or the actual degree document (but I bet the word "degree" is there).

Forgive me, my friend, I just couldn't resist a little fun on new year's eve

 

I apparently forgot to weigh-in with this thread that my Associate's degree earned me a 10% raise, so it was definitely worth it. That school also has an articulation agreement with my Bachelor's alma mater, so all credits transferred with no problems.

 

Let's look at it like this:
If you were a hiring manager for an open position and that position was going to manage computer technicians, who would you hire-
John Doe
AAS Computer Science
BS Business Administration
or
John Doe
BS Business Administration
or
John Doe
AS Accounting
BS Computer Science
All have a background in computers and some management experience....I know the one that would be out right away.

 

Can you explain further?

 

Randell,

your question would be great for an HR class. I think I would hire the first one because historically AAS degrees are applied, practical, and hands on. The BS in Business would lead me to believe the individual was working towards learning the business and management side while plying a trade, and seem complimentary. In addition I would think they have an understanding of the trade sufficient to manage technicians. I also think the Computer Science background could work well in understanding the hardware/software relationship.

The least likely individual would be your last example and would be last on my list, but could be first in another scenario.

Of course this is assuming all other factors are equal or unavailable for evaluation.

Give us your thoughts.

 

The point is: an associates degree has value and should be listed on a resume as it will display your knowledge as a full package.