"Associate degrees are crap, and you should refrain from trying to sell us that here."
Turnoi

I guess you missed this in the last post, so for the sake of clarity I'll post it again. If your assessment remains the same, then I would say that you are shameless. Albeit, my assertion that such degree holders should not be mocked and that they are the salt of the earth will not be altered by any degree of academic snobbery.

Common abbreviations are:

* AA (Associate of Arts)

* AE (Associate of Engineering; or, in some cases, Associate in Electronics Engineering Technology)

* AN (Associate of Nursing)

* AS (Associate of Science)

* AF (Associate of Forestry)

* AT (Associate of Technology)

* AAA (Associate of Applied Arts)

* AAB (Associate of Applied Business)

* AAS (Associate of Applied Science; or in some cases, Associate of Arts and Sciences)

* AAT (Associate of Arts in Teaching)

* ABA (Associate of Business Administration)

* ABS (Associate of Baccalaureate Studies)

* ADN (Associate Degree in Nursing)

* AES (Associate of Engineering Science)

* AET (Associate in Engineering Technology)

* AFA (Associate of Fine Arts)

* AGS (Associate of General Studies)

* AIT (Associate of Industrial Technology)

* AOS (Associate of Occupational Studies)

* APE (Associate of Pre-Engineering)

* APS (Associate of Political Science)

* APS (Associate of Public Service)

* ASPT-APT (Associate in Physical Therapy)

In the United States and Canada, an associate degree is equivalent to the first two years of a four-year college or university degree. It is the lowest in the hierarchy of postsecondary academic degrees offered in these countries. It is also equivalent to the UK's foundation degree and France's diplme d'tudes universitaires gnrales or DEUG. In 2000, Hong Kong introduced associate degrees, as an equivalence to higher diplomas. These programmes are mainly provided through affiliated colleges at universities. In 2004, Australia added "associate degree" to the Australian Qualifications Framework. This title was given to more academically focused advanced diploma courses. However, very few courses yet use the new title.

My son has an Associate's degree in Electrical Engineering and owns his own successful company. Neither he nor I consider his degree or his career as crap. Yes, there was a time I would have preferred that he use his talents for communicative discourse to become an attorney, but I am no less proud of his choice because he followed his own path. As for me, I was awarded an AA degree in Speech with an emphasis on Interpersonal Communication many years ago. It wasn't until many years later, after raising two children, that I returned to college and earned my BA in Asian Studies and my MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL Methodology. Yes, I'm proud of my advanced degrees; however, I would not consider, as you would, my AA degree as crap or a waste of time.