What is the Difference Between a Certificate and a Degree?
The Certificate is the first College level piece of paper you can receive for completing a specific set of course-work. By completing just the required courses in a certain program (or major), the student is awarded a Certificate. If the student has completed the required courses in the program AND the general education requirements of the College, they are awarded an Associate Degree. Students in the EATM program, can earn Certificates – by completing the required EATM courses only, and/or they can earn Degrees, by completing the required EATM courses AND some general education courses. Most students get both certificates and degrees at the same time! Then they have plenty of diplomas to hang on their walls at home. Students who have completed the general education courses at other colleges are awarded transfer credit – see Chuck Brinkman, the EATM Counselor for more information about transfer credit.
There is a big difference between a certificate program and one that one that comes with a degree. Yet this difference isn’t always important. Sometimes training for a job will only come in the form of certificate programs, and they may be more highly rated than would be a degree. There are a number of programs that offer certificates of completion that are really the only way to be trained in specific areas. Most people don’t become skilled plumbers, for example, by getting an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree. In other professions, a degree is much more desirable, more helpful or required; it really depends upon profession chosen. Generally, the certificate means that a person has completed some type of training program, and there are numerous places that may offer these. These include trade and vocational schools, junior colleges, and even four-year colleges that offer adult or extended education classes. What completion certificates tend to share in common is that they usually don
Degree programs offer students the opportunity to prepare for both a career and further education at a four-year school. Aims offers four two-year degrees in liberal arts and sciences and vocational/occupational training. Certificates are short-term courses of study that will give the student entry-level skills, skills enhancement or recertification in a specific occupation. Certificates vary in length from less than one semester to three semesters.
