Associate of Arts

Associate of Arts
Name	Associate of Arts
Type	Undergraduate degree
Duration	2 years
Level	Undergraduate
Awarding body	Community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, some universities

Contents

Associate of Arts

The Associate of Arts is a two-year undergraduate degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, and some universities that prepares students for transfer to four-year institutions or for entry-level positions. It integrates liberal studies drawn from curricula at institutions such as Harvard University, University of California, Los Angeles, Columbia University, Yale University and University of Oxford while aligning with accreditation agencies like the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Higher Learning Commission, Middle States Commission on Higher Education and Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.

Overview

The degree emphasizes general education across humanities, social sciences, and arts, with course offerings comparable to departments at New York University, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, University of Florida and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Typical credit requirements mirror credit systems used by the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, the American Association of Community Colleges guidelines, and policies from ministries such as the United States Department of Education and the Ministry of Education (United Kingdom). Institutions awarding the degree include the Los Angeles City College, Santa Monica College, Miami Dade College, Tampa Bay Technical College and City College of San Francisco.

The modern two-year liberal arts credential evolved from 19th-century junior colleges influenced by models at Oberlin College, Amherst College, Williams College, Vassar College and reforms advocated by figures associated with the Progressive Era and organizations such as the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the G.I. Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944). Expansion of community colleges in the postwar era paralleled initiatives by state systems including the California Community Colleges System, the Florida College System, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the New York State Education Department. Accreditation milestones involved agencies like the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities and legal decisions referenced in cases such as Brown v. Board of Education that reshaped access and transfer policy.

Program curricula typically require general education courses in subjects offered by departments at University of California, Berkeley, Indiana University Bloomington, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University and University of Washington. Common course categories reflect syllabi influenced by scholars from institutions like Princeton University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Brown University and Rice University. Requirements often include a combination of lower-division courses amounting to roughly 60 semester credits, sequenced with prerequisites and outcomes aligned to standards from bodies such as the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and learning frameworks used by UNESCO and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Variants include the associate in fine arts, associate in liberal studies, associate in humanities, and transfer-oriented associate degrees as found in catalogs of Boston University, Northeastern University, University of Southern California, Michigan State University and Ohio State University. International equivalents include the Higher National Diploma in the United Kingdom, the Diploma of Higher Education found in British frameworks, the Diplôme universitaire de technologie in France, and sub-bachelor credentials used by institutions like the University of Toronto, McGill University, University of British Columbia and the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Admission criteria and articulation agreements involve policies from state and national bodies such as the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the Texas Common Course Numbering System, the Florida Articulation Agreement and consortia agreements with universities including Florida International University, University of Central Florida, San Diego State University, Arizona State University and University of Arizona. Transfer pathways often rely on block transfer, reverse transfer, and articulation tools managed by organizations such as the American Association of Community Colleges, the Common App, the National Student Clearinghouse and statewide transfer portals used in systems like the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office.

Credential structures vary regionally with models implemented by national systems like the European Higher Education Area, the Canadian university system, the Australian Qualifications Framework, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Regional practice differs in credit definitions, transfer norms, and recognition with bilateral agreements involving organizations such as the Council of Europe, the World Bank, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and regional university networks like the Association of American Universities, the Russell Group, Group of Eight (Australia), and the Universities UK network.