AAS options post-Pierpont

[newdegree]

Of all of the "ideal" options that Hotdogman1 mentioned, do any of them offer an Area of Emphasis?

Our daughter wants an Associates degree with an AoE in Art, Interior Design or something like that. TESU does not offer that, so the WV community colleges came to mind. She could potentially do the required 3 credit course before graduating high school as a dual enrollment student, which tends to be much cheaper than after high school graduation. Then, she could transfer in all other RA courses plus the required additional art courses (from Coopersmith or elsewhere).

Any advice?

As a hiring manager I honestly look down on High School kids getting an Associates Degree as a gimmick and not a serious college degree. Community Colleges are now doing nonsense like accepting HS Honors courses and not just AP courses for college credit. This cheapens an Associates Degree since my generation was never allowed to do that, only the kids who put in the work for AP courses.

In today's world, an associate's degree, unless in math, science, engineering, or the medical field (such as nursing, respiratory therapy, or dental hygiene), is like an extension of high school. Some people even use bachelor's degrees as new high school diplomas since the market is flooded with graduates, and it's so easy to obtain one nowadays, especially with degree hacking and all types of online ways to get them.

I disagree, there is a big difference in the skill level of job applicants who have an associates degree vs. those who do not but it matters how it was completed. These new HS "accelerated" associate degree graduates are no better than most HS graduates I have found it to be almost a joke. Degree hacking accounts for a very, very small amount of college graduates. When you look at popular social media sites like Reddit, they promote CBE schools like WGU far above degree hacking. Almost no one knows about degree hacking but many young HS grads have heard of WGU. I never bought into that Bachelor's degrees are the new High School diploma. I just do not see it.

I disagree; I have hired military vets with high school diplomas who performed well. Also, I have hired high school students eager to learn and excel. Just because you don't have an associate's degree does not mean you are less competent or less intelligent. It all depends on the person. Now, when looking at an associate degree, it doesn't matter how they obtained it traditionally, CBE, degree hacking, etc, since it is usually seen as a step-up median point between high school and a bachelor's degree. Now, with a market that has so many people getting a bachelor's degree, it's a new standard job requirement like a high school diploma; hence why, people say it's like the new high school diploma because of the competitiveness of having a bachelor's degree is no longer making an applicant's application shine. Usually, you have applicants with master's degrees or years of experience you are competing against; this is not like 10-15 years ago when a bachelor's degree was a huge deal, and the market was limited. We have an overflux of bachelor's degree holders and too many ways to obtain one. Information is so available nowadays with social media and youtube as a big part of how the youth obtain information; it is as simple as putting 1-year bachelor's degree or how to get a fast bachelor's degree on youtube.