Johnson County Community College
Series 300: Student Personnel
Section 315: Degree Certificate Requirements

1. Academic Requirements

Johnson County Community College awards the following degrees: Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Applied Science, Associate of General Studies and the Associate of Applied Science-Kansas AVS/TC Articulated.

a. An associate degree is earned when a student successfully completes a minimum of 64 hours of credit in an approved educational program.

b. A student must earn a minimum of 15 semester hours of credit in residence at Johnson County Community College. Advanced standing credit will not count toward satisfying this credit hour requirement. In addition, a student must have earned both a 2.0 grade point average or better at JCCC and have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better on all completed course work.

c. A student must be enrolled at the college at the time they anticipate completing degree requirements and file an Intent to Graduate form. A student who withdraws from all courses, at any time during the semester, will not be considered currently enrolled for that semester.

d. A student must file an Intent to Graduate form.

A student may complete the requirements for a degree at the end of each term or semester. The degree status will be recorded on the student's permanent transcript record upon certification of completion of the graduation requirements.

e. An approved Associate of Arts program is one designed specifically to meet the educational objectives and needs of the student through the completion of the general education distribution requirements and is individually approved by a counselor. An approved Associate of Science or Associate of Applied Science program is one recommended by the faculty and approved by the Board of Trustees to meet the educational objectives and needs of the student. An Associate of General Studies is designed for students who do not plan to transfer to a traditional baccalaureate institution, but wish to receive recognition for completion of a more general program of study. The Associate of Applied Science-Kansas AVS/TC Articulated degree is designed to facilitate student transfer of technical education programs under the provisions outlined in the Transfer Agreement and Articulation Guide for Kansas Community Colleges, Area Technical Schools and Colleges for the Associate of Applied Science, dated September 1999.

f. Competency in the basic skills--reading, writing, and computation--is essential for individuals to function effectively in collegiate programs. Any student who completes a degree at Johnson County Community College must have demonstrated competencies in these skill areas:

A student must demonstrate minimum proficiency in reading and writing, either at the original assessment, a subsequent assessment, or in courses which address these competencies prior to enrolling in degree-specific writing courses.

A student must demonstrate minimum proficiency in computational skills, either at the initial assessment, a subsequent assessment, or in courses which address these competencies prior to enrolling in degree-specific mathematics courses.

2. Implementation

The Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and the Associate of Applied Science degree requirements went into effect for all new students for the 1985 fall semester. The Associate of General Studies degree requirements went into effect for the 2005 spring semester and the Associate of Applied Science-KCAFS/TC Articulated degree requirements went into effect for the 2003 spring semester. Currently enrolled students at the time of implementation will have the option to complete degree requirements in effect prior to this policy change if they maintain continuous enrollment except for programs with selective admission's requirements. A student is considered continuously enrolled if they complete at least one class during each regular fall and spring semester. If a student does not maintain continuous enrollment, the student will be required to follow the graduation requirements that are in effect at the time of re-enrollment.

3. Specific Degree Requirements

The 64 credit hours required for this degree must include:

a. Associate of Arts

Communications...................................... 9 hours
(must include Composition I and II and an oral Communications class)
Social Science and/or Economics...............6 hours
Humanities and/or Fine Arts.......................6 hours
(History is included in this category)
Science and/or Mathematics.......................9 hours
(must include one course in a laboratory science and one from Mathematics)
*Health and/or Physical Education..............1 hour

*Exceptions to this requirement must be appealed in writing to the office of Enrollment Management.

b. Associate of Science

The 64 credit hours required for this degree must include:

Communications...................................... 6 hours
(must include Composition I)
Social Science and/or Economics...............3 hours
Humanities and/or Art............................... 3 hours
Science and Mathematics...........................12 hours
(must include one course in Mathematics and one in a Laboratory Science)
*Health and/or Physical Education................1 hour

*Exceptions to this requirement must be appealed in writing to the office of Enrollment Management.

c. Associate of Applied Science

The 64 credit hours required for this degree must include:

Communications....................................... 3 hours
Social Science and/or Economics.............. 3 hours
Humanities and/or Art................................3 hours
Science and/or Mathematics.......................3 hours
*Health and or Physical Education..............1 hour

*Exceptions to this requirement must be appealed in writing to the office of Enrollment Management.
3 additional credit hours to be selected from one of the above categories

d. Associate of General Studies

The 64 credit hours required for this degree must include:

Arts……………………………..…………................3 hours
Communication Skills..…………………….......6 hours
Culture and Ethics……………………...........6 hours
Health, Physical Education, Recreation…... 2 hours
Mathematics………………………………..............3 hours
Modes of Inquiry………………………............6 hours
Computer Skills……………………………...........3 hours
Global Issues/Diversity……………………......3 hours

e. Kansas AVS/TC Articulated, Associate of Applied Science

The 64 credit hours required for this degree must include:

Transferred AVS/TC Program..........................45 hours
ENGL 121 Composition I*...............................3 hours
Communication Elective...................................3 hours
Humanities Elective........................................3 hours
Social Science and/or Economics Electives........3 hours
Science and/or Math Elective*........................3 hours
Electives......................................................3 hours
Health and/or Physical Education Elective......... 1 hour
*Prerequisite/Corequisite required

4. Awards

Diplomas will be issued at the end of each semester. Commencement exercises will be held once year, at the completion of the spring semester. Students who have completed degree requirements and received diplomas in prior terms will be invited to participate in commencement exercises.

Date of Adoption:
Revised: 6/16/94, 4/20/99, 3/23/00, 2/15/01, 9/20/07, 12/13/07