Colleges throughout the country have been announcing new Associate's degrees at a time when high school seniors are months away from graduation. Many community college programs particularly offer training to meet the needs of area employers. That was the case for a West Virginia community college and technical school that announced an expansion of its Associate's degree programs, according to a report on WBOY 12 News. The West Virginia college in December had announced that programs in drafting and design engineering technology and graphics technology for the Internet and print publishing had gained accreditation. New programs at colleges and universities throughout the country cover everything from physical therapy to mining technology and include:

Associate's degree programs in surveying engineering, sociology, communications, English, political science and anthropology are being added to the offerings at a community college in New Mexico, an article in New Mexico Business Weekly suggested. The programs, approved by the college's governing board are, with new certificate programs in diverse subjects, expected to begin with the fall 2011 semester.

A veterinary technician Associate's is being added to the offerings at a medical institute in Tucson, AZ. According to a March announcement from the institution, this would provide students with training that could help them gain entry-level positions in shelters, hospitals, zoos and clinics. The announcement cited information from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics citing a 36 percent, or much faster than average, demand into 2018 for veterinary technicians.

Associate's degrees also are a part of a new five-year MBA program in Rochester, NY. A community college in this area of upstate New York would provide students with the Associate's degrees they would need before moving on to Bachelor's and MBA's, according to a March article in the Democrat and Chronicle.

In Maryland, the campus newspaper for a college in February announced that the school had added an Associate's degree in law enforcement and corrections. That same institution had months earlier signed an agreement with an area university that might allow This offers students a more seamless transfer to a paralegal Bachelor's, according to an article on newsworks.org.

An Associate's degree in physical therapy assisting is new to an Arizona college, according to an announcement from that institution earlier this year. Education Today, in reporting on the new program in Arizona, noted that it's scheduled to begin in April, it's designed to prepare students for entry-level careers and it includes a clinical training component.

A Pennsylvania university recently announced that it is offering a new Associate's degree program at an area college. The Associate's degree in mining technology is expected to begin in June and is intended to prepare students for work as supervisors in the field, an article in the Daily American suggested.

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