Editing Associate degree (section)

===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>