Does having completed 2 whole years at a CC with a diploma help with admission to 4 year universities? Having trouble deciding if I should transfer before I graduate from CC. Does having a diploma from a CC factor into the amount of financial aid you get from 4-year universities?
If you get an AA or AS degree, that looks better on a job application and on your resume than just writing "XX semester hours of college credit. An AA or AS degree won’t necessarily affect financial aid. However there can be other benefits to finishing your AA or AS degree such as guaranteed admission with an articulation agreement, automatic junior status, acceptance of your CC coursework as having fulfilled all Gen Ed requirements even if there aren’t any one-to-one matches for coursework, etc. Contact the transfer admission offices at the places you are looking at and find out what their specific policies are.
Whether or not an AA/AS is helpful for transfer admission depends on the whether the four year and community colleges specify that. For example, in California, a special type of associates degree *for transfer/i can help with transferring and fulfilling requirements at CSUs, but other AA/AS degrees give no special advantage (although courses taken can count toward course requirements for transfer, regardless of whether an AA/AS degree is earned).