Engineering Degree

An associate's degree is a degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges and some bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities in Canada and the United States upon completion of a course of study equivalent to the first two years in a four-year college or university. It is the lowest in the hierarchy of academic degrees offered in these countries. Common abbreviations are AA (Associate of Arts), AS (Associate of Science) and AAS (Associate of Applied Science).

Generalized categories or types of Associate's Degrees

It is possible to break the Associate's Degree into three general categories.

An Associate of Arts degree is often awarded for programs that are terminal or intended for transfer to a four year college, usually with a major in the social sciences or humanities. It is also awarded to General Studies students, those who decline to select an area of concentration.

The Associate of Science degree is similarly awarded to terminal students or to potential transferees to a four years college, but the areas of concentration are usually in mathematics, natural sciences, or technology.

The Associate of Applied Science degree is awarded to students who are permitted to relax some of the general education requirements in order to study more course work in their program area. Typically, this kind of degree is for students who intend to enter the work force upon graduation.

Time requirements

The associate degree is most often awarded to students completing postsecondary programs requiring at least one but no more than two years of full-time study. More often, a lesser diploma, called a Certificate, is awarded for only a one year program. It is not unusual for students to study more than two years to complete the requirements for an associate's degree.

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Engineering Science

The Associate in Engineering Science degree offered at Richland Community College is transfer-formatted program. Upon completion of the two-year curriculum, graduates will be eligible to transfer into a four-year university with junior status.