An Associate degree is generally a diploma awarded as the result of completing two years' worth of college credits. I did this, got my diploma and then decided to continue and earned my BA in Developmental Psychology. It took about two more years to do this. In these times, I would reccommend that you go for the B.A. Of course, if you can secure employment,where your company encourages further education and actually reimburses you for earning further credits......that is the best scenario.