I think that you cannot tear these two words apart - this is an idiomatic expression and has to be viewed as a whole. When searching on the web, I found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associate%27s_degree An associate's degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges and some four-year bachelors degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years. In the United States and, uncommonly, in Canada, an associate's degree is equivalent to the first two years of a four-year college or university degree. It is the lowest in the hierarchy of post-secondary academic degrees offered in these countries.