Did you know that your student can earn an associate’s degree before graduating from high school? An Associate’s degree can be a stepping stone to transferring to a four-year college and getting a bachelor’s degree.
Let’s start from the beginning: What is an associate’s degree? An associate’s degree is a 2-year degree earned from a college or university. It consists of classes that are either for job training or to transfer to a four-year university. Some students may want to work on an associate’s degree during high school, or even finish one at the same time.
So what are the benefits of earning an associate’s degree through dual enrollment? There are several. The first is saving money. Because tuition for dual enrollment is often far less than tuition for a four-year college, it is less expensive for your student to earn an associate’s degree while in high school than doing it later. That also saves time. Instead of completing an associate’s degree in the first two years after transferring, your student can transfer with an associate’s degree in hand.
The second benefit of working towards an associate’s degree through dual enrollment is commitment. When your student works on a specific degree plan, it can give them more dedication and motivation to continue their dual enrollment. By contrast, if someone takes classes without any particular degree plan in mind, in some cases, it can lead to a loss of commitment or a feeling that there is no purpose or structure to the courses. Another byproduct of having a specific degree plan is that it becomes clear for a student to see what their courses are working towards and where they are going.
This has been especially true for me. Often, courses associated with a specific associate’s degree plan are pre-requisites of one another, and it is easy to see how the courses I take build upon one another.
However, also note that this does not mean that all the courses your student will take have to do with a specific degree plan. Because this is through dual enrollment, your student will have to complete courses outside of that required for the associate’s degree in order to satisfy high school requirements.
For example, I am only required to take two English courses for my associate’s degree in Civil Engineering. But because I have to satisfy high school requirements too, I am taking other courses in English literature as well.
This leads to another question: Does the type of associate’s degree matter? The answer is yes, and this is where the link between your student’s interest and the degree type comes in. There are several types of associate’s degrees available. Some are general, like an associate’s in science or an associate’s in arts. These are especially good if your student still hasn’t decided what they want to do after graduation or what career they want to pursue. Some, however, are a lot more specific. There are a large number of much more specific associate’s degrees, such as degrees in computer science, civil engineering, nursing, biology, and much more. These are especially good if your student knows what they want to do with their future study and career. For instance, because I know I want to pursue a career and degree in engineering after transfer, my associate’s degree is also associated with engineering.
So how does all this fit into the broader timeframe of dual enrollment? Managing time can sometimes be very tricky. While associate degrees are designed to be finished in just two years, a student taking dual enrollment courses can spread the course requirements over three or four years, so there is flexibility in timing. This makes it far more manageable and easier to deal with. For example, I began dual enrollment when I was in 9th grade, and I still have quite a while to go.
And here is where we circle back to the beginning: If it so happens that your student completes the requirements for an associate’s degree before satisfying all the course requirements for high school, they can actually earn an associate’s degree before finishing high school.
