Associate of Arts degree

An associate degree (or associate's degree) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study intended to usually last two years. It is considered to be greater level of education than a high school diploma or GED. The first associate degrees were awarded in the U.K. (where they are no longer awarded) in 1873 before spreading to the U.S. in 1898. They have since been introduced in a small number of other countries.

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.

Associate degrees in Arts and Science are offered as provincial qualifications in British Columbia. They are similar to the U.S. associate degree, consisting of a two-year course and allowing articulation onto the third year of bachelor's degree courses.

Other provinces of Canada do not offer associate degrees as such, but do offer sub-bachelor's higher education qualifications, e.g. the one year certificate, two year diploma and three year advanced diploma in Ontario. 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 onto (three year) bachelor's degree courses, or a three-year technical programme preparing students for employment.

Qualifications on the short cycle of the Bologna Process/level 5 on the European Qualifications Framework sit between secondary education and bachelor's degree level and are thus approximately equivalent to an associate degree. Such qualifications include the Foundation degree (FdA, FdSc, FdEng), Certificate of Higher Education (CertHE) and Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE) in the United Kingdom, the Higher Certificate in the Republic of Ireland, and the French Diplôme Universitaire de Technologie (DUT) and Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (BTS).

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