A two-year degree at a trade school, commonly referred to as an associate's degree, helps students gain the necessary skills and knowledge in a particular field. Such degree programs tend to forgo general education requirements and elective courses. Associate's degrees are offered in a variety of fields, including computer science, criminal justice, nursing and other fields that may also have four-year degree counterparts. While not broad as four-year degrees, associate's degrees do give students a leg up on those with less schooling.
Trade schools award technical certificates to students who have committed a number of classroom hours to learning certain technical skills or jobs. It is a statement that a student is considered proficient enough in the field to enter the workplace. Often students will go directly from a technical certificate program into an apprenticeship. Technical certificates are available in fields such as welding, plumbing and electrician work.
Diploma programs at trade and technical colleges last from one to two years, depending on the school and program. These diplomas differ from associate's degrees in that they are more narrow in their scope, providing only the base level of skill that a person needs to get a job in their field. A person with an associate's degree is generally considered to be better educated and more responsible than a person with a diploma in the same field. In the field of nursing, for instance, those with associate's degrees will have had more classroom and hands-on experience than those who completed a one-year diploma program. Associate's degree holders will generally be offered better jobs and higher pay than diploma holders.