Kelly Maki (left) maps out her college career with adviser Limse Tahor in the MCC advisement center. Although a bachelor’s degree is more prestigious than an associate’s degree, an associate’s degree is very valuable to employers.
Two-year degree
enhances career
Marc Godinez
Mesa Legend
Most people who enroll in a community college, do so in hopes of receiving an associates degree, but how useful are they?
Since students are pursuing a higher education in order to make their resumes more attractive, it’s necessary to understand the importance of the credits gained from each class and degree.
MCC currently offers five associate degrees, one for just about any career out there, each tailored to the career choice preferred.
A two year degree consist of about 60 credits from classes that are similar to the career choice of the individual.
Each class is meant to make the student or potential applicant, employable in their desired field of work; it’s meant to make them the expert.
“What I look at as an employer, is has somebody completed a degree?” said Judy Taussig, the Advisement Director at MCC.
“It’s valuable to me because it shows that you set a goal, worked hard, and completed what you set out for. A bachelors means you pursued it even further. That says something about you as an individual.”
While a bachelors degree is more prestigious than an associates, many students often forget that an associates will make them more valuable to an employer.
Many companies want to see some sort of higher education on a resume when choosing between applicants.
“I, myself, having received an associates degree in December 2004, have found that it helped me at my current job,” says Teri Zapata a former MCC graduate, who currently hires employable applicants to different positions in the Valley.
“I was promoted to Senior Staffing Specialist three months after obtaining my degree. It was a very generous promotion.”
Different employers offer different promotion opportunities.
For example, education majors, while rare, can find some employers who will compensate the employee based off of the amount of credits obtained.
In other words, the more classes completed, the more money paid to the employee.
Any student who has at least 15 credits should check with their employer to see if there is an incentive available for the experience gained up to that point.
While it is important to complete an associates, bachelors or even a masters degree, the opportunity to receive a promotion on the way up is definitely there.
“It is the knowledge and experience gained through an education that makes them valuable to a company,” says Zapata.
