Associate Of Science Degree?

Q: Can some educator or anyone explain to me the difference between an Associate of Science degree and an Associate of Applied Science degree. Just wondering. Can't seem to get anyone to explain the difference to me. I notice at the local community college that they offer an Associate of Science degree in Business and Commerce and they also offer an Associate of Applied Science in Business and Commerce. The admissions office is clueless.

A:I have an AAS in Emergency Medical Technology that I earned as part of a 2-year advanced paramedic certification course, and later earned an AA in History at the same institution before transferring to a 4-year college to earn my bachelors degree. It would have been difficult to find any professional use for my AA degree, as I had to take only two history courses

to earn it, but the senior college was then forced to grant me those two years of academic credit on transfer, rather than pick and choose what courses they were willing to transfer (these were both state institutions). We evaluate a number of foreign educational credentials. In many cases we evaluate two year foreign college degree as Associate of Applied Science. The difference of 'Applied Science' vs. 'Science' is clear. When you have 'Science' degree - your subjects can be in majority of cases used as credits for further higher education (say for Bachelor of science). Applied science degrees are mostly final and you cannot use their credits for further education.