Hi, Roadkill!
About Degrees...An Associate degree is a degree awarded usually after two years of college (community college, junior college, and even some 4 year colleges). With this, you can either transfer to a University or go into the workforce, which is normal. A Bachelor's degree is a seperate program from an Associate. It's usually your undergraduate degree that you work on at a university or college, and it takes at least 4 years to complete, depending on your major.
If you go directly to a University then you won't be getting an Associate Degree. You will be working on your Bachelor's degree throughout the college process, and after that you can continue to be apart of the upper echelon by getting your Ph.D, Masters, etc. So unless you begin your postsecondary education in community college, you can get a Bachelor's without an Associate.
Hope this helps!