【明報專訊】THERE is growing concern about the prospects offered by associate degree programmes. As shown by a lot of research, an associate degree is of little help to those looking for good employment, as graduates face problems of low starting salaries and slow salary rises. Associate degrees have done little to enhance the upward social mobility of young people. Even Kevin Yeung, the Secretary for Education, has admitted that seventeen years after their launch, associate degree programmes, which were intended to be independently recognised, are now regarded as a stepping stone for an undergraduate degree. He says that it is time to review the success of the policy as well as the position and value of an associate degree.