What is an Associate's Degree
One of the 5 standard degree types is an associate's degree. Essentially a 2 year year degree (or about 60 credits), an associates degree is typically earned at a community college or junior college or a tech school (trade college). The reason for this is that many students feel it's a smart financial move to get their "general" classes taken care of (the first 60 credits of a degree are often gen-ed classes) at a lower price point and then transfer to a 4 year university to complete their specialized courses for their bachelors degree.
Transfer Programs
Many schools even offer a "transfer" program to transfer in the credits obtained during the 2 year degree. For example in Wisconsin where I'm at, the University of Wisconsin has several 2 year campuses that you are guaranteed transfer from to one of the main 4 year universities in the UW system. A lot of the 2-year campuses are in communities that had they not been there the students would be driving several hours to and from classes, so there are geographic considerations to this as well.
Employment
While a lot of students do use their associates degrees as a stepping stone for more advanced studies, there are plenty of people out there that stop there and enter the workforce. A smart move here that a lot of students are taking is to get an associates degree in your proposed field of study (if you're working towards a computer science degree, get an associates in computer tech or something) and then obtain a job to get some experience (and cash) while completing the remainder of your studies.
Grade Padding
If you didn't do as well as you should have in high school a great "hack" so to speak for getting into a great college is to attend a community college or similar and really excel in the coursework. I've heard from a lot of students that this really seems to help and can show that a student has re-dedicated himself to his studies and is a prime candidate for admission into their target university.
So there you have it - a little about associates degrees and the various reasons why people get them. With some creative maneuvering you can make your first 60 credits add up to more than the sum of their parts and really help you get a good grip on your academic and occupational goals.
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