Editing Associate degree (section)

==Americas==
===Argentina===
In Argentina, tertiary colleges ("institutos terciarios") offer associate degrees in a variety of areas, including elementary and high school teacher, and technical fields, upon completion of three or four years of study. Some of these degrees may be articulated with university programs, to obtain a bachelor degree after, usually, two additional years. Associate degrees are also offered by some universities, as a final degree or as an intermediate stage before a bachelor degree.

In Hispanic America, an associate degree is called a ''carrera técnica'', ''tecnicatura'' or ''Técnico Superior Universitario'' (TSU), while a bachelor's degree would be known as a ''licenciatura'' or ''ingeniería''.

===Brazil===
{{further|Higher education in Brazil#Degrees}}
In [[Brazil]], undergraduate degrees are known as {{lang|pt-br|graduação}} ('graduate') while graduate degrees are known as {{lang|pt-br|pós-graduação}} ('postgraduate'). Brazil follows the major traits of the continental European system; free public schools are available from kindergarten up to postgraduate degrees, both as a right established in Article 6, caput of the [[Brazilian Constitution]] and as a duty of the State in Article 208, Items I, IV, and V, of the Brazilian Constitution.<ref name="BrasilConstituicao">{{cite web |title=Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988 |url=http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/constituicao/constituicao.htm |website=www.planalto.gov.br |access-date=1 April 2020 |language=pt-br}}</ref>

In 2001, Brazil added {{lang|pt-br|tecnólogo}} ('technologist') as a form of undergraduate degree ({{lang|pt-br|graduação}}). A technologist's degree varies between two and three years of full time studies to complete. This degree takes a shorter time period to obtain than a bachelor or teaching degree (some of which may take between four and six years to complete), and it aims to provide highly specialized knowledge (e.g., [[agribusiness]] technical degree, [[Hospitality management studies|tourism management]] degree, [[web development]] technical degree, etc.).<ref name="CatalogoCursosSupBrasil">{{cite web |title=Marco legal e normativo / Catálogo Nacional de Cursos Superiores de Tecnologia |url=http://portal.mec.gov.br/catalogos-nacionais-de-cursos-superiores-de-tecnologia/legislacao-e-atos-normativos-cncst |website=portal.mec.gov.br |access-date=1 April 2020 |language=pt-br}}</ref> There is also official recognition for a type of course called {{lang|pt-br|sequencial}} ('sequential' - students receive this associate degree like in [[junior college]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Filho | first=Naomar Almeida | title=A universidade brasileira num contexto globalizado de mercantilização do ensino superior: colleges vs. Vikings | journal=Revista Lusófona de Educação | volume=32 | issue=32 | date=2016-07-01 | issn=1646-401X | url=https://revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/rleducacao/article/view/5508 | language=pt-br }}</ref><ref>{{cite report |url=https://ianas.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/livro_-_educac_a_o_superior.pdf |last=Davidovich |first=Luiz |title=Repensar a educação superior no Brasil: análise, subsídios e propostas |publisher=Academia Brasileira de Ciências |year=2018 |language=pt-br}}</ref>

===Canada===
{{Hatnote inline|See [[Higher education in Canada]], [[Universities in Canada]]||inline=no}} 
[[Education in Canada]] is a provincial power: each [[Provinces and territories of Canada|province and territory]] regulates tertiary education and degree system in their jurisdictions, with pan-Canadian co-ordination in a Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cmec.ca/158/Postsecondary_Education.html|title=Council of Ministers of Education, Canada > Programs & Initiatives > Postsecondary Education > Overview|website=CMEC}}</ref> [[British Columbia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bctransferguide.ca/associate|title=Associate Degrees|publisher=British Columbia Commission on Admissions and Transfer|access-date=19 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.douglascollege.ca/study-at-douglas/ways-to-study/associate-degree|title=Associate Degrees|publisher=[[Douglas College]]|access-date=19 January 2017}}</ref> is the only Canadian province offering American-style associate degrees.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canadim.com/study/become-an-international-student/levels-study/|title=Levels of Study|website=Canadim}}</ref> 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. Other provinces do not offer associate degrees but do offer similar [[higher education]] qualifications below the bachelor's level: These are two-year courses resulting in a diploma in a broad range of technical, professional and academic subjects. Articulation into bachelor's programs are the norm but can differ by subject (with some specialties rarer among bachelor's). [[Ontario]] also offers three-year [[Ontario College Advanced Diploma|advanced diplomas]] which are not considered as associate degrees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ontariocolleges.ca/ontcol/home/plan/program-types/diploma-programs.html |title=Diploma Programs at Ontario Colleges |publisher=ontariocolleges.ca |access-date=2013-07-25}}</ref> The territories have fewer but similar diploma programs, some being particularly geared to Arctic environments, and northern Indigenous cultures and languages, with bachelor's programs being a mix of [[Yukon University|local provision]], partnerships with [[Akitsiraq Law School|institutions]] based elsewhere in Canada and [[University of the Arctic|international consortia]]. Indigenous nations in most provinces have education systems also provide First Nations-focused diplomas programs, with [[Higher education in Canada|North American Aboriginal education bodies]]. In [[Quebec]], the ''[[Diplôme d'études collégiales]]'' (diploma of college studies), taught at post-secondary ''collèges d'enseignement général et professionnel'' (colleges of general and professional education; ''cégeps'') can be a two-year pre-university qualification that is a pre-requisite for entry into the bachelor's degree. However, because a bachelor's degree in Quebec takes 3 years to complete instead of 4 years, it can be thought as an articulation onto the second year of a standard North American bachelor's degree program. Quebec also has a three-year Cégep technical programme preparing students for employment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cicic.ca/1174/Postsecondary-education-in-Quebec/index.canada|title=Postsecondary Education in Quebec|publisher=Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials|access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref>

===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''' ('''AA''') and '''Associate in/of Science''' ('''AS''') degrees.<ref name="coddegree">{{cite web|title=Degree Programs|url=http://www.cod.edu/programs/degree_programs.aspx|publisher=[[College of DuPage]]|access-date=1 August 2016|archive-date=4 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804223432/http://www.cod.edu/programs/degree_programs.aspx}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Haidar |first1=Hasna |title=What is an Associate's Degree? |url=https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/what-associates-degree |website=topuniversities.com |publisher=QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited |access-date=17 October 2022}}</ref>  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 [[Communication studies|Communications]], [[English studies|English]], [[History]], [[Mathematics education|Mathematics]], [[Natural science|Natural Science]], and [[Social science|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 degree|terminal]] associate degree such as the '''Associate of Applied Arts''' ('''AAA''') or the '''Associate of Applied Science''' ('''AAS''').<ref name=usnei>{{cite web |title=Structure of the US Education System: Associate Degrees |url=https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/associate.doc |website=Education USA |publisher=US Department of Education|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308102504/https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/associate.doc|archive-date=March 8, 2022}}</ref>

[[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 (education)|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.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718192010/http://www.collegezone.com/415_813.htm |archive-date=July 18, 2013 |url=http://www.collegezone.com/415_813.htm |title=Student Zone – College – Finding/Applying |publisher=College Zone |access-date=2013-07-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Common associate-level degree titles include:<ref name=usnei/>

* Associate of Arts (AA)
* Associate of Applied Arts (AAA)
* Associate of Applied Business (AAB)
* Associate of Applied Science (AAS)
* Associate of Forestry (AF)
* Associate of Fine Arts (AFA)
* Associate of Theology (ThA or ATh)
* Associate of Science (AS)
* Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS)

====California====
The Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act was signed into legislation on September 29, 2010, which is legislation that grants any [[California Community College]] student who has earned the Associate in Arts degree for Transfer (AA-T) or the Associate in Science degree for Transfer (AS-T) priority admission to CSU ([[California State University]]) into a similar baccalaureate (BA) degree program with a guarantee of junior standing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.calstate.edu/transfer/degrees/|title=Cal State University|website=California State University Transfer Requirements}}</ref>

====Historical development====
The [[University of Chicago]] was established in 1891 with four groups of colleges – liberal arts, literature, science, and practical arts (later commerce and administration). These were subdivided into 'junior' (or 'academic') and 'senior' (or 'university') colleges. Bachelor's degrees were awarded by the senior colleges, and certificates were initially awarded by the junior colleges. In 1899 the board of trustees voted to replace these certificates with associate degrees (Associate in Arts, Associate in Literature, and Associate in Science), which were first awarded in 1900. Eells concludes that it is "not unlikely" that people at Chicago knew of the associate degrees being awarded in the [[#United Kingdom|United Kingdom]], but there is no direct evidence of this. Chicago discontinued its associate degrees in 1918.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070539849&view=1up&seq=109|pages=95–97|title=Degrees in Higher Education|author= Walter Crosby Eells|series=Library of education, a project of the Center for Applied Research in Education | publisher=Center for Applied Research in Education|year=1963}}</ref>

The associate degree spread across the US, with California College in Oakland (now the [[American Baptist Seminary of the West]]) introducing Associate in Arts and Associate in Letters degrees in 1900, and the Lewis Institute in Chicago (now part of the [[Illinois Institute of Technology]]) introducing Associate in Literature and Associate in Science degrees in 1901 (both replaced by the Associate in Arts in 1904) 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070539849&view=1up&seq=111|pages=97–98|title=Degrees in Higher Education|author= Walter Crosby Eells|series=Library of education, a project of the Center for Applied Research in Education | publisher=Center for Applied Research in Education|year=1963}}</ref>

By 1918, 23% of [[junior college]]s 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070539849&view=1up&seq=112|pages=98–99|title=Degrees in Higher Education|author= Walter Crosby Eells|series=Library of education, a project of the Center for Applied Research in Education | publisher=Center for Applied Research in Education|year=1963}}</ref>

===West Indies===
Two year associate degrees are found throughout the West Indies. They are offered by regional organisations such as the [[Caribbean Examinations Council]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cxc.org/examinations/cxc-associate-degrees/|title=CXC Associate Degrees|website=Caribbean Examinations Council}}</ref> and the [[University of the West Indies]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.open.uwi.edu/programmes|title=Programmes|website=The University of the West Indies Open Campus}}</ref> and at institutions of higher education in particular, within The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, [[Barbados]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bcc.edu.bb/ProspectiveStudents/ProgrammesOfStudy/AssociateDegreeProgrammes.aspx|title=Associate Degree Programmes|website=Barbados Community College}}</ref> [[Jamaica]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.utech.edu.jm/academics/colleges-faculties/fobe/sblm/courses-of-study|title=Courses of Study|website=University of Technology, Jamaica}}</ref> and [[St. Kitts and Nevis]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cfbc.edu.kn/asgs-associate-degrees/|title=ASGS Associate Degrees|website=Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College}}</ref> among others.