To set goals for your academic and career path, you must first have an understanding of the options available for you to pursue and the requirements you will need to meet. This chapter provides an overview of academic programs and college degrees that are common among many colleges and universities in the United States. Please note that each institution will have its own specific options and requirements, so the intention of this chapter is both to help you understand your opportunities and to familiarize you with language that colleges typically use to describe these opportunities.
Whereas in most states high school attendance through the 12th grade is mandatory, a college degree may be pursued voluntarily. There are fields that do not require a degree. Bookkeeping, computer repair, massage therapy, and childcare are all fields where certification programs—tracks to study a specific subject or career without need of a complete degree—may be enough.
However, many individuals will find that an associate or bachelor’s degree is a requirement to enter their desired career field. According to United States Census data published in 2017, more than one-third of the adult population in the country has completed at least a bachelor’s degree,[1][3] so this may be the degree that is most familiar to you.
Not every job requires a bachelor’s degree, and some require even higher degrees or additional specialized certifications. As you develop your academic plan, it is important to research your field of interest to see what requirements might be necessary or most desirable.
To distinguish between the types of degrees, it is useful to understand that courses are often assigned a number of credits, sometimes called semester hours as well. Credits relate to the calculated hours during a course that a student spends interacting with the instructor and/or the course material through class time, laboratory time, online discussions, homework, etc. Courses at all degree levels are typically assigned a value of one to six credits, although students often need to complete a developmental education course or two, often in English or math. These requirements, which cost as much as typical college courses but do not grant college credit, are meant to provide some basic information students may have missed in high school but that will be necessary to keep up in college-level coursework.
The minimum or maximum number of credits required to graduate with different degrees varies by state or institution, but approximate minimum numbers of credits are explained below. Keep in mind that although a minimum number of credits must be completed to get a certain degree, total credits completed is not the only consideration for graduation—you must take your credits or courses in particular subjects indicated by your college.
To determine your best degree option, it might make sense to do some research to determine what kind of career you’re most interested in pursuing. Visit your campus career center or guidance office to meet with a counselor to guide you through this process. These services are free to students while they are enrolled in school, but can be pricey if used outside a school setting, so take advantage. There are other tools online you can investigate.
To enter an associate degree program, students must have a high school diploma or its equivalent. Associate degree programs may be intended to help students enter a technical career field, such as automotive technology, graphic design, or paralegal. Such technical programs may be considered an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees, though there are other titles as well.
Pitt Community College offers the Associate in General Education (AGE) degree. It is intended for students interested in applying to one of PCC’s allied health professions, such as Associate Degree Nursing, Cardiovascular Sonography, Health Information Technology, Respiratory Therapy, etc. Students in the AGE degree program most likely will not complete the degree, but will transfer to their chosen health science field once they complete their program’s required general education courses and are accepted into their program.
Other associate degree programs are intended to prepare a student with the necessary coursework to transfer into a bachelor’s degree program upon graduation. These transfer-focused programs usually require similar general education and foundational courses that a student would need in the first half of a bachelor’s degree program. Transfer-focused associate degrees may be called Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS), Associate in Engineering (AE), Associate in Arts/Teacher Prep (AATP), Associate in Science/Teacher Prep (ASTP) or Associate in Fine Arts (AFA).
An associate degree is typically awarded when a student has completed a minimum of 60 credits, approximately 20 courses, meeting the requirements of a specific degree. Some technical associate degrees, such as nursing, may require additional credits in order to meet requirements for special certifications. You may find that your college or university does not offer associate degrees. Most associate degrees are offered by community or junior colleges, or by career and technical colleges.
When someone generally mentions “a college degree,” they are often referring to the bachelor’s degree, or baccalaureate degree. Because it takes four years of full-time attendance to complete a bachelor’s degree, this degree is also referred to as a “four-year degree.” Similar to an associate degree, to enter a bachelor’s degree program a student must have completed a high school diploma or its equivalent. Both associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees are considered undergraduate degrees, thus students working toward these degrees are often called undergraduates. A student with an associate degree may transfer that degree to meet some (usually half) of the requirements of a bachelor’s degree; however, completion of an associate degree is not necessary for entry into a bachelor’s degree program.
A bachelor’s degree is usually completed with a minimum of 120 credits, or approximately 40 courses. Some specialized degree programs may require more credits. (If an associate degree has been transferred, the number of credits from that degree usually counts toward the 120 credits. For example, if an associate degree was 60 credits, then a student must take 60 additional credits to achieve their bachelor’s degree.)
In the United States, a bachelor’s degree comprises courses from three categories: general education courses, major courses, and electives.
According to United States Census data published in 2018, 13.1 percent of the U.S. adult population have completed advanced degrees.[2][3] Whereas associate and bachelor’s degrees are considered undergraduate degrees and require high school graduation for entry, advanced degrees called graduate degrees require prior completion of a bachelor’s degree. Some professions require graduate degrees as a minimum job qualification, such as pharmacists, lawyers, physical therapists, psychologists, and college professors. In other cases, students may be motivated to pursue a graduate degree to obtain a higher-level job or higher salary, or to be more competitive in their field. Some students are also interested in learning about some subject in greater depth than they did at the undergraduate level. Because graduate degrees do not include general education or free elective courses, they are very focused on career-specific knowledge and skills. Graduate degrees include master’s, doctoral, and professional degrees. Master’s degrees often require 30–60 credits and take one to two years of full-time attendance to complete. Some master’s degrees, like those for counselors, require supervised job experience as a component of the degree and therefore require more credits.
Doctorate and professional degrees are the highest level of advanced degrees. Approximately 3.5% of the U.S. adult population has completed a doctorate or professional degree.[3] Very few careers require this level of education for entry, so fewer individuals pursue these degrees. Doctorates are offered in many subjects and primarily prepare students to become researchers in their field of study. This in-depth level of education often requires an additional 90–120 credits beyond the bachelor’s degree, and may or may not require a master’s degree prior to entry.
Professional degrees are a specific type of doctorate-level degree that focus on skills to be applied in a practical, or hands-on, career rather than as a researcher. The most common professional degrees are Doctor of Medicine (MD) for aspiring medical doctors, Juris Doctor (JD) for aspiring lawyers, Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) for aspiring pharmacists, and Doctor of Education (EdD) for aspiring school and college or university administrators.
As previously noted, most associate degrees require a minimum of 60 credit hours for completion, and bachelor’s degrees minimally require a total of 120 credits. Some individuals refer to these degrees as “two-year” and “four-year” degrees, respectively. To complete a 60-credit associate degree in two years, you would need to take 15 credits (about five classes) in the fall and spring semesters during both years of your attendance. To complete a 120-credit bachelor’s degree in four years, you would need to take 15 credits in the fall and spring semesters each of your four years. It is therefore entirely possible to complete these degrees in two and four years, particularly if you use the three primary resources that colleges provide to help you with your planning: curriculum maps, academic advisors, and interactive planning technology.
Many colleges and universities will provide curriculum sheets (sometimes called: course checklists, course schedules, degree plans, curriculum maps, etc.) to illustrate the sequence of courses necessary to follow this timeline. These timelines often assume that you are ready to take college-level math and English courses and that you will be attending college as a full-time student. If a placement test or your high school GPA demonstrates a need for prerequisite math and English coursework to get you up to speed, your timeline will likely be longer.
Many students attend college part-time, often because of family or work responsibilities. This will obviously have an impact on your completion timeline as well. Programs that have special requirements may also require that you plan for additional time. For example, it may be the case that you cannot take other courses while completing clinicals or student teaching, so you will need to plan accordingly. Alternatively, you may be able to speed up, or accelerate, your timeline to degree completion by taking courses during summer semesters. Or if you take fewer than 15 credits per semester, you can take courses during the summer terms to “make up” those credits and stay on track toward those two- or four-year graduation goals.
Figure 3.1 Curriculum Sheets
All colleges and universities provide resources such as counselors or academic advisors to assist you with your academic planning. Regardless of what your college calls this role, counselors and academic advisors are individuals who are able to assist you in navigating the puzzle of your academic plan and piecing your courses and requirements together with your other life obligations to help you meet your goals.
A counselor or an advisor is an expert on college and major requirements and policies, while you are the expert on your life circumstances and your ability to manage your study time and workload. It is also an advisor’s responsibility to understand the details of your degree requirements. This person can teach you how to best utilize college resources to make decisions about your academic and career path. An advisor can help you connect with other college staff and faculty who might be integral to supporting your success. Together with your advisor, you can create a semester-by-semester plan for the courses you will take and the special requirements you will meet. Refer to the end of this section for a detailed planning template that you could use in this process. Even if your college does not require advising, it is wise to meet with your advisor every semester to both check your progress and learn about new opportunities that might lend you a competitive advantage in entering your career.
Counselors and academic advisors can help you:
Footnotes:
1. United States Census Bureau. (2017, March 30). Highest educational levels reached by adults in the U.S. since 1940 [Press release]. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/cb17-51.html
2. United States Census Bureau. (2024, December 27, rev.). Number of people with master’s and doctoral degrees doubles since 2000. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/02/number-of-people-with-masters-and-phd-degrees-double-since-2000.html
3. Data regarding educational statistics is updated frequently. Visit the National Center for Education Statistics: 1) Condition of Education or 2) Digest of Education Statistics
This content has been adapted from:
Chapters 21 & 22 (Dillon) are derivatives of: