Value of A.S. Degree in Programming

Question

I am in a quite unusual family situation. For the next two years, I have to stay at home where the only post-secondary institution available is a community college. After two years, I will have to start earning a living. I do not really have any real-world programming experience to put on my résumé. I did some not-too-advanced work in PHP for family and friends, and I’m pretty sure that I want to program for a living.

I have been working on an A.S. Degree in Computer Programming and Analysis since fall. My question regarding the degree is: is it worth anything to potential employers or am I just wasting my time? Is there a better way to spend the oncoming two years? If I could get an internship and some experience, would that hold more weight than a two-year degree without experience?

Answer 1

I think the degree can help, here in Holland most programmers who have a IT degree, have applied science degrees, but that is maybe because our educational systems are slightly different. I can't speak for the USA but I would finish it, and after that (if its not part of your curriculum) get an internship to get some hands-on experience at a real company.

In the end degrees don't count nearly as much as experience. But an AS degree in programming can help you get you on your first degree. Also AS is more practical so you learn more stuff you can actually apply straight out of school. That is, again my experience from Holland.

Answer 2

I am currently working towards my Bachelors in Comp Sci. I have already been working the field. I got decent jobs with only showing my portfolio of things I have done. I will tell you both sides of my sword.

Not having the degree wasn't a massive deal since I easily showed my work. I don't think in terms of getting hired it was that big a deal.

However, I believe I stunted my growth a bit by not learning as much of the theories behind programming and concentrating too much on learning languages. If I were you, I would definitely start off with the A.S. and try to pick up on the actual theories behind things, and learn language(s) more on your own.

Answer 3

It is worth something, and it may help you get an internship. Experience may hold more weight, but knowledge === power.

Answer 4

In my experience, having a degree greatly enhances the chance of getting a job. But unfortunately the combination of a degree and experience wins if jobs are hard to find.

Answer 5

If a company gives more weight to a 2-year piece of paper than demonstrable ability developed over two years of experience, you don't want to work there anyway. However, if you feel you are lacking general technical knowledge an AS program could provide, go that route. If you know how to write software, and if you can fill your two years with internships and the like, do that instead.

Answer 6

If possible do both. A sheet of paper in combination with industry experience is worth far more than either individually. Don't underestimate the value of personal projects either, all of that "not-too-advanced work in PHP for family and friends" counts and should be part of your portfolio to show any prospective employer.

Answer 7

The value of the degree has two aspects: what you actually learn and the impact the degree has on a potential employer. I would say that the former is more important than the latter if you can demonstrate to your potential employer that you know your stuff. You may have to write a better cover letter with an A.S. degree than with a B.S. degree -- given the same lack of experience, but once you get the interview, knowing your stuff and knowing how to interact with people trumps just about everything else. Obviously if you know your stuff and how to work with people and have experience, that's even better.

A corollary to this is that if you are just putting in time in your classes to get the degree and you're not learning anything, you're probably wasting your time. Note that I'm not necessarily saying that the class itself is a waste of time. My general experience -- having gone back to get my MCS later in life -- is that your education is a lot more about you than it is about the class you're taking.

Answer 8

It certainly won't hurt. Especially if you learn in the process.

Answer 9

What I have noticed, and I only have an A.A.S., is that in order to work for a "big" company you will probably need a 4 year degree. But in the industrial automation, if you are able to show what you can do, they are ok with the 2 year education option. You may have to start out and prove yourself a little bit, but if you're good at what you do, things will work themselves out. If what you have is a 2 year program available, I'd go for it. You won't be disappointed.

Answer 10

This may or may not influence your decision but, as a real world example, where I work your education has a direct correlation to your starting salary band. Where you start affects how quickly you can move up the ladder of responsibility and compensation.

So, my recommendation is to get the degree that you can afford to get and study your vitals off for the two years that you have to invest. Demonstrate your willingness to squeeze every opportunity available for all that it's worth and you'll eventually find the employer who thinks "yeah, what we need are people who really work hard!"

Answer 11

An Associates degree is surely better than no degree, but, from what I've seen, it's nowhere near as potent as a Bachelor's. In fact, for software development jobs, it seems to me that it's better to have a Bachelors in a different field than an Associates in Computer Science or Software Engineering. Nonetheless, if that's the best available to you, go for it!

Also, have you considered an online school? I have no real experience with them, and admit that it seems they don't get the respect a traditional college gets, but it's better than no degree. Maybe after you finish an Associates degree locally you can transfer your community college credits to an online school.

Answer 12

I think in your case an internship plus experience would be much better than an associates degree in programming.

Answer 13

Do as much as possible.

1. Make sure your school is accredited. This typically means that you should make sure the AS would be considered as transfer credits to a BS program in CS from a larger college/university. Otherwise, you might be spending money and taking classes that get you nowhere.
2. Get the AS.
3. Get an internship, do what you can. If you work hard, they'll hire you. Maybe they'll even pay for future education.

I guess I'd say, do with what you got. It should pay off in the end.

Answer 14

I actually took the route of getting an Associate of Applied Science degree and then getting my Bachelors degree in Computer Science and I think the degree in and of itself is useful to opening some doors but ultimately you are going to want to get the Bachelors degree if you want to work at a larger company.

At a minimum having the degree is going to keep your resume from getting filtered out by anyone that is doing keyword searches and it also shows that you have at least a minimum level of knowledge. This could be enough to get you a junior developer position or even some contract work if you know something that is a bit more specialized.

From a long term standpoint, the Bachelors degree tends to be mandatory at bigger companies and at some point you are going to want to get that degree. However, one of the nice things about having an Associates is that you can usually get a lot of credits towards the Bachelors transferred in based upon that degree. This in turn means that you don't have to start form scratch when it comes time to work on that degree. Remember that community colleges also tend to cost less in terms of tuition so that will be that much less money you have to pay when it comes time for the Bachelors degree as well.