Associate's degree
An
associate's degree is the degree awarded by community colleges in
Canada and the
United States upon completion of a course of study equivalent to the first two years in a four-year
college or
university. It is the lowest in the hierarchy of
academic degrees offered by Canada and the US. Common abbreviations are A.A. (Associate of Arts) and A.S. (Associate of Science). It is also equivalent to the
UK's
foundation degree.