Would an associate's degree apply toward a bachelor's degree if you decide to continue your education?

Answer 1

The two-year associates degree is equivalent to the first two (freshman and sophomore) years of a four-year bachelors degree. So, then, one who holds a two-year associates degree may apply to a four-year bachelors degree program and enter same as a full junior; and, from there, complete just the junior and senior years of said bachelors degree.

At the end of it all, one has still only gone to school for four years, exactly the same as if one had entered the four-year bachelors degree program as a freshman; however, by getting the associates first, one has two (2) degrees that one may put on one's resume at the end of that same four years.

Or at least that's how it's supposed to work. The sad truth is that sometimes the associates degree doesn't contain either enough of, or the right kind of what's called "lower division general education" (LDGE) to satisfy the bachelors program. In other words, the bachelors program, if the student had just entered it from the freshman year in the first place, might require a certain amount and kind of LDGE; and the associates program, while containing roughly the same LDGE, may be just a little bit different. And so, in such case, before the bachelors program will allow the associates degree holder to enter said bachelors program as a full junior, a semester or so of additional LDGE may be required.

In California, for example, we have the "community college system" (CCS) at the associates degree level; and then both the "California State University" (CSU) and the "University of California" (UC) systems. The CSU syste requires a certain kind and amount of LDGE that's just a little bit different than the UC system requires; and, even weirder, neither of those is quite the same as the LDGE that the CCS system requires if it doesn't know whether the student planes to later enter either the CSU or UC systems.

So, then, what that means is the unless the CCS student specifically plans his/her LDGE in anticipation of entering either the CSU or UC systems, then it's entirely possible that his/her LDGE won't be quite right for either; even though it's enough to graduate with the assocates from the CCS system.

Planning, planning, planning... that's the key. The bachelors program's "catalog" will explain what LDGE is required. The associates degree student should get a copy (either in print, through the US Mail, or as a PDF file, downloaded from the bachelors program's website) of the catalog, and learn, from it, what LDGE is required; and then said student should simply ensure that whatever LDGE s/he takes during the associates program is what the bachelors program requires.

If the associates degree student hasn't decided, yet, what bachelors program s/he will enter after s/he earns his/her assocates degree, then s/he should consult with his/her academic advisor and structure his/her LDGE such that it's more than what pretty much any bachelors program would likely require so that s/he is then free to apply to pretty much any bachelors program out there. For Californians, the pretty much means to simply structure the LDGE of one's associates degree, while in the CCS system school such that the UC system (the tougher of the two, CSU and UC, systems) would accept it.