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Most community colleges offer associate degrees in the fields of art and design, business, education, health care, technology, criminal justice and engineering. Often the goal of these two-year programs is vocational, preparing the student with the certification necessary to start working as a professional practitioner with minimal delay. A significant percentage of graduates continue their education, however, transferring to a four-year college or university.

While specifics vary from school to school and from state to state, a typical two-year degree program usually includes such requirements as the successful completion of a minimum number of semester hours of credit and the completion of a program of general education in the liberal arts and sciences (which could include courses in the arts and humanities, mathematics, natural and social science, and possibly a foreign language), while maintaining an overall grade point average of at least 2.00.

Among the associate degrees awarded by most colleges are:

Associate of Arts (AA)
Awarded for successful completion of a core liberal arts curriculum with a concentration in the social sciences and humanities.

Associate of Science (AS)
Awarded for successful completion of a core liberal arts curriculum with a concentration in the physical sciences.

Associate in Applied Science (AAS)
Awarded for successful completion of a core liberal arts curriculum with a concentration in a vocational application of the training.