AA degree and job prospects in stem fields
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
I'm in the social sciences and my son is interested in stem fields-- so outside of my knowledge base. He is in high school and may do dual enrollment to earn an aa degree. Our family's expectation is that he will complete at least bachelor's (although I know there are high drop out rates in college and anything can happen).
Can anyone tell me about job outlooks and lifestlye and the value of an associates degree (with most likely a completed bachelor's degree) for -computer science -information science -engineering -cybersecurity -business analytics |
Anonymous
| I have a friend with an AA in Engineering and he's working at an electric utility company as a Electrical Engineer. Been doing it for almost 20 years now and makes decent money. |
Anonymous
| Is he open to STEM fields in medicine, like radiology tech, nurse, or physical therapy assistant? He could get an associates degree and be immediately employable in those types of careers. |
Anonymous
That worked 20 years ago. Not today. |
Anonymous
|
Unless he cannot get a BA/BS he should just press on. An Associates degree is a tech/manual lab assistant kind of job at best.
|
Anonymous
Immediately employable, yes. With a decent salary? No. CNAs and PTAs, or OTAs for that matter are going to be stuck at poverty level wages, at least as far as the DMV goes. With a BA nursing can pay pretty well. Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy are going to require a master's degree to get out of the "assistant" positions and into more sustainable pay. |
Anonymous
|
What’s an AA degree?
An associates degree or something? |
Anonymous
| Did you seriously post this because you're hoping your child will be employable after high school with an AA even though his plan is to complete a BS? Unclench |
Anonymous
| Assuming AA means associates of art? Which doesn't really make sense for stem . . . |
Anonymous
|
There are wildly different job prospects with a dual enrollment associates of arts/college-prep track and with a stem-like associates degree + industry practicum (generally a function of a community college partnering with private sector employers and doing quasi custom training). The college prep/4year transfer curriculum is very different from technical curricula.
For info on the job prospects, ask the community college that you are working with. Placements will vary. |
Anonymous
This. And drop out rates vary significantly from one college to another. Pick one with a high graduation rate. |
Anonymous
Do not do AA degree. It will not pay well and is technician skills. Of the ones above, at the BS degree only, highest starting pay likely would be Elec/ Computer Engineering, then Computer Science, then Cybersecurity. The other two degrees mostly are for people not smart enough for the three I listed. And they do not pay nearly as well. Completely different animals. |
Anonymous
| I just noticed that NOVA has a five-semester nursing AA program that allows you to take the test to become an RN. So, you aren't limited to being a CNA with an AA Degree. |
Anonymous
|
Cybersecurity is heavily certification driven. So I think an AA is fine but depends on the certs. If he can do an AA with a suite of AWS certs and the CCPS cert, he would likely be employable. But he will be competing with others who have college degrees or military experience. Also some positions require an undergraduate degree to even be considered.
Certifications he should look into Security+, CISSP, CISA, and CCSP. Then more vendor specific: AWS & MS AZURE/Defender/Purview. |
Anonymous
Yes, but hospitals like Inova prefer an RN BSN. Further, those with an RN and BSN are paid better, with better job growth options, than AA RN. The AA degree is a glass ceiling in most jobs, limiting one to technician work. |