Associate degree

An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree. The first associate degrees were awarded in the UK (where they are no longer awarded) in 1873 before spreading to the US in 1898. In the United States, the associate degree may allow transfer into the third year of a bachelor's degree. Associate degrees have since been introduced in a small number of other countries. In Argentina, tertiary colleges ("institutos terciarios") offer associate degrees in a variety of areas, including elementary and high school teacher, and technical fields, upon completion of three or four years of study. Some of these degrees may be articulated with university programs, to obtain a bachelor degree after, usually, two additional years. Associate degrees are also offered by some universities, as a final degree or as an intermediate stage before a bachelor degree. In 2004, Australia added "associate degree" to the Australian Qualifications Framework. This title was given to courses more academically focused than advanced diploma courses, and typically designed to articulate to bachelor's degree courses. In Brazil, undergraduate degrees are known as graduação ('graduate') while graduate degrees are known as pós-graduação ('postgraduate'). Brazil follows the major traits of the continental European system; free public schools are available from kindergarten up to postgraduate degrees, both as a right established in Article 6, caput of the Brazilian Constitution and as a duty of the State in Article 208, Items I, IV, and V, of the Brazilian Constitution. In 2001, Brazil added tecnólogo ('technologist') as a form of undergraduate degree (graduação). A technologist's degree varies between 2 and 3 years of full time studies to complete. This degree takes a shorter time period to obtain than a bachelor or teaching degree (some of which may take between 4 and 6 years to complete), and it aims to provide highly specialized knowledge (e.