Studying In The United States: Associate Degree & Bachelor's Degree

There are more than 3,000 universities in the United States, and there are about 2,000 degrees in various fields, which will inevitably dazzle many students studying in the the United States. As a matter of fact, the United States currently implements the system of associate degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree and doctor's degree, which respectively represent the four different academic levels of education in the two categories of undergraduate and postgraduate. According to the nature of the degree, there are two kinds of degrees: academic degrees and professional degrees. Here, we will introduce the various degrees in the United States for those students who are going to study in the United States.

Associate Degree

Upon completion of secondary education, students who have completed the first two years of completion in a four-year institution of higher education, or who have completed a full liberal arts program in a two-year junior, technical or community college may receive an associate degree in art or an associate degree in science. After completing the corresponding vocational and technical courses, you can obtain an associate degree in applied arts or an associate degree in applied science; Some courses in a two-year college can sometimes be completed in one year or less, and the result is a qualification certificate rather than a degree.The associate degree is helpful for employment, but its curriculum is more professional and the academic level is not high. Therefore, the traditional “first degree” of American higher education usually refers to the bachelor degree. However, in recent years, the two-year college has flourished, and the associate degree has gradually become a basic degree for undergraduate education. It is worth noting that an associate degree is only a qualification for a two-year junior or community college, not a prerequisite for a bachelor's degree.

Bachelor's Degree

After graduating from high school and successfully completing a diploma after 4-year-study at a college or university, you can earn a bachelor's degree. The bachelor's degree program is usually four years, with two semesters per academic year. However, there are also many institutions that implement a three-year or three-semester (autumn, spring, and summer) system.

The United States is accustomed to granting a Bachelor of Arts degree to students studying languages, literature and other literature, history and art, and a Bachelor of Science degree to students studying social sciences and natural sciences. In addition, professional colleges also offer a variety of professional degrees. Because Bachelor of Arts is the oldest degree, some institutions have awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees in addition to Bachelor of Science in Natural Science and Engineering and Applied Science; this phenomenon has now changed.

The first two years of a bachelor's degree are usually a broad base of subjects, including some compulsory subjects such as English writing, foreign languages, literature, social sciences and other subjects of sciences. The next two years are devoted to specialized subjects, with students choosing one major subject and two minor subjects; credit system is applied in teaching; in a two-semester school year, one credit is credited to one hour of instruction or two to three hours of practice work per week for 15 weeks. A bachelor's degree can be awarded after completing 120 credits in 4 years. Students usually take 4-5 courses each semester.

Some colleges allow students to enter professional colleges in their third or fourth year of college, which is especially common in law schools, medical schools and engineering schools. These students may take more than five years to earn their bachelor's degree, but some of their undergraduate education's and graduate education's overlap in time.

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