By Deborah Williams
Recently,
many college students are earning an associate degree before
transferring to a four-year college. Caralee Adams, writer for
Edweek’s College Bound blog,
writes
that there are a number of reasons that actually earning the associate
degree before transferring to a four-year college. It can…
- …increase the likelihood of completing a bachelor’s degree
- …save students money
- …improve their earnings compared with that of earlier transfers
Researcher Clive Belfield reports these findings from a study of the
Community College Research Center at Teachers College at Teachers
College, Columbia University. He notes that getting an associate degree
before transferring to a four-year college can increase earnings by
$50,000 over 20 years. He also reports that many community college
students have difficulty deciding the best time to transfer to a
four-year college. He suggests that state community college systems
“create stronger incentives for making the completion of an associate
degree before transfer a priority for students.
Of course, starting out with an associate degree can save you mone
