Associate degree
An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree.
The first associate degrees were awarded in the UK in 1873 before spreading to the US in 1898. In the United States, the associate degree may allow transfer into the third year of a bachelor's degree. Associate degrees have since been introduced in a small number of other countries.
History
The title of Associate in Physical Science was introduced in 1865 by the University of Durham College of Physical Sciences and awarded from 1873.It required passes in three of mathematics, physics, chemistry and geology, and allowed students to go on to take the examination for the Bachelor of Science. As a university-level qualification lying below the bachelor's degree, this is considered to be the world's first associate degree in the modern sense, having been first awarded 25 years prior to the introduction of associate degrees into the US by the University of Chicago. The ASc was withdrawn in 1904. Durham also introduced an Associate in Theology in 1901, which was only offered in 1901 and 1902. Yorkshire College offered Associate in Engineering and Associate in Coal Mining degrees from 1877 and there were thirteen different types of associate degrees offered in British universities in 1927.
The title of Associate in Arts, introduced by the University of Oxford in 1857 and sometimes referred to as the degree of Associate in Arts, predated the Durham degree. However, it was an examination for "those who are not members of the university" and who were under the age of 18; as such it was at the level of a high school qualification rather than a modern associate degree. Examinations were held in English, languages, mathematics, science, drawing and music, with the title being conferred on those students who passed any two.
The qualification was introduced in the US in 1899, when the University of Chicago decided to replace its certificates with associate degrees, which were first awarded in 1900. American educationalist Walter Crosby Eells concluded that it is "not unlikely" that people at Chicago knew of the associate degrees being awarded in the United Kingdom, but there is no direct evidence of this. Chicago discontinued its associate degrees in 1918.
The associate degree spread across the US, with California College in Oakland introducing Associate in Arts and Associate in Letters degrees in 1900, and the Lewis Institute in Chicago introducing Associate in Literature and Associate in Science degrees in 1901 followed by the Associate in Domestic Economy degree in 1908. Associate degrees were not always two-year sub-bachelor's awards in the early 20th century: Harvard University and associated colleges awarded Associate in Arts degrees to students who had passed university extension courses "equal in number and standard to the courses required of a resident student for the degree of Bachelor of Arts" from 1910 to 1933.
By 1918, 23% of junior colleges were awarding Associate in Arts degrees. By 1941–42, 40% of junior colleges awarded some form of associate degree, and by 1960 this had grown to 75%, with 137 different associate degrees in use. Over a third of associate degrees awarded in the US in 1958–59 were granted by Californian junior colleges.
Usage by country
United States
In the United States, associate degrees are awarded after completion of sixty semester or ninety quarter college credits.The two most commonly awarded associate degrees are the Associate in/of Arts and Associate in/of Science degrees. AA degrees are awarded in the liberal arts, humanities, and social science fields; AS degrees are awarded in the natural science, applied science, and formal science fields.
Generally, one year of study is focused on college level general education in disciplines such as Communications, English, History, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Social Science, and the second year is focused on the area of a student's major.
Students who complete a vocational program can often earn a terminal associate degree such as the Associate of Applied Arts or the Associate of Applied Science.
Transfer admissions in the United States sometimes allows courses taken and credits earned on an AA or AS to be counted toward a bachelor's degree more commonly through articulation or transfer credit agreements but sometimes through recognition of prior learning, depending on the courses taken, applicable state laws/regulations, and the transfer requirements of the university.
Common associate-level degree titles include:
- Associate of Arts
- Associate of Applied Arts
- Associate of Applied Business
- Associate of Applied Science
- Associate of Forestry
- Associate of Fine Arts
- Associate of Theology
- Associate of Science
- Associate of Science in Nursing or Associate Degree Nursing
- Associate of Occupational Studies
California
West Indies
Two year associate degrees are found throughout the West Indies. They are offered by regional organisations such as the Caribbean Examinations Council and the University of the West Indies, and at institutions of higher education in particular, within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, and St. Kitts and Nevis, among others.Canada
is the only Canadian province offering American-style associate degrees. Similar to the U.S., these consist of a two-year program and allow for articulation onto the third year of a bachelor's degree program.Australia
In 2004, Australia added "associate degree" to the Australian Qualifications Framework. This title was given to courses more academically focused than advanced diploma courses, and typically designed to articulate to bachelor's degree courses.Netherlands
In the Netherlands, there were four pilots between 2005 and 2011 to assess the added value of the associate degree. In 2007 the associate degree was added to the Dutch system of higher education within the Higher Professional Education stream taught at universities of applied sciences. Associate degree courses form part of HBO bachelor's degree courses, and advising requirements are the same for the two-year associate degree and the related four-year bachelor's degree. Those gaining the associate degree may proceed to an HBO bachelor's degree in only two years, but it does not articulate to bachelor's degrees in the research-oriented stream.Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, associate degrees were first introduced in 2000 with the aim of increasing the number of students with post-secondary qualifications. As originally introduced, the qualification took two or three years, but this was reformed in 2012 to a two-year course. The associate degree is designed as a general academic education qualification, compared to the more vocational Diploma/Higher/Advanced Diploma, and allows articulation onto the third year of a four-year bachelor's degree or the second year of a three-year bachelor's degree. A survey in 2016 showed that most students believe associate degrees will help them to get onto bachelor's degree courses, but not in gaining a career; however only 30% of associate degree graduates gained places for further study, leading to accusations that the degree is "a waste of time and money" and calls for the government to address this by making more bachelor's degree places available. This has been criticized, with others saying that education had benefits beyond income, which is only a short-term measure.Pakistan
The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has approved Associate Degree Programs to replace the traditional two-year BA/BSc programs. This transition aligns with HEC's Undergraduate Education Policy, which mandates that all ADPs must receive approval from the relevant statutory bodies of the respective universities.An associate degree is a two-years undergraduate degree program abbreviated as ADP in Pakistan and is authorized by the Higher Education Commission through an Authorization Letter. In place of two-year BA/BSc Programs, universities and colleges affiliated with public sector universities may offer Associate Degree Programs for post-higher secondary students, in accordance with the given policies. All universities in Pakistan may offer associate degrees upon receiving the appropriate authorization from HEC Pakistan.