Learn about degrees & certificates
Certificates: Community and technical colleges offer a much wider variety of certificates. Most certificate programs are designed to meet the needs of local industry and can be completed in a year or less.
One-year Degree: A one-year degree is a diploma program that can be completed in one year. Diploma programs tend to be more in depth than certificates, with fewer distribution requirements than an AA or AS degree.
Associates Degrees: Most associates degrees can be completed in two years. Community and technical colleges offer two general kinds of associates degrees.
Transfer degrees are designed for students who wish to transfer to a four-year college or University. These kinds of degrees include AA (Associate of Arts) and AS (Associate of Science) degrees.
Applied degrees are designed for students who wish to enter the workforce immediately after graduation. Examples of these degrees are AAS (Applied Associate of Science), and other types of Applied Associates degrees.
Bachelors degrees: An increasing number of Bio-Link programs are beginning to offer Bachelors degrees. These colleges and many others have articulation agreements with two-year colleges and will accept transfer credits.
Post-baccalaureate certificate: These certificates are designed for students with work experience and / or a bachelors degree in a given subject.
Masters degree: A few colleges offer Masters degrees and sometimes professional Masters degrees in areas related to biotechnology. To enter a Masters program, you must complete a Bachelors degree first. Typically, a Masters degree requires conducting some type of original research and writing a thesis.