AA-AAS

Associate of Arts and Associate of Science Degrees

Students who desire to earn a baccalaureate degree at a four-year college or university may complete the first two years at Volunteer State Community College by enrolling in the Associate of Arts or the Associate of Science degree programs. The advantages in taking the first two years of a baccalaureate degree at Volunteer State are: (a) Volunteer State’s maintenance fees are among the lowest of any public college or university in Tennessee; (b) Volunteer State’s faculty specialize in the first two years of a student’s college education; (c) Volunteer State is student-oriented; (d) at Volunteer State, students may begin at their own level of competence; and (e) students actually complete an approved program of study mid-way through the baccalaureate program.

Volunteer State works closely with students and sister institutions of higher education to ensure smooth transfer. Both course-by-course equivalency tables and program articulation agreements have been developed between Volunteer State and other colleges and universities such as Tennessee State University, Middle Tennessee State University, and Tennessee Technological University. Student copies of both program articulation agreements and course equivalency tables for these and other institutions are available in the Advising Center.

The Curriculum Guides are suggested courses of study designed to include general education and foundation courses needed for a major in a given field of study at the baccalaureate level. Because every school has different requirements, the Curriculum Guides are not intended to represent requirements for any one particular college or university. Students should obtain a copy of the catalog of the senior institution to which they plan to transfer and use it during advisement and registration to make sure that the courses selected meet the first two years’ requirements at the receiving institution. Substitutions to meet unique requirements at a specific institution may be requested.

• Students may receive an Associate of Arts degree in any Curriculum Guide (listed below) by completing two semesters of the same college-level foreign language.
• All Curriculum Guides, except for Foreign Languages, lead to an Associate of Science degree. Students who follow the Curriculum Guide for Foreign Languages will receive an Associate of Arts degree.

All Volunteer State students are encouraged to complete the Associate Degree prior to continuing their education elsewhere.

Tennessee Board of Regents’ Common Lower-Division
General Education Core Curriculum

Effective Fall Semester 2004, each institution in the State University and Community College System of Tennessee (the Tennessee Board of Regents System) will share a common lower-division general education core curriculum of forty-one (41) semester hours for baccalaureate degrees and the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Science degrees. Lower-division means freshman and sophomore courses. The courses comprising the general education curriculum are contained within the following subject categories:

Baccalaureate Degrees and Associate of Arts and Associate of Science Degrees*

* Foreign language courses are an additional requirement for the Associate of Arts (A.A.) and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees. The B.A. degree requires proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to completion of two years of college-level work. The A.A. degree requires proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to completion of one year of college-level work.

** Six hours of English Composition and three hours in English oral presentational communication are required.

*** Students who plan to transfer to Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) universities should take six hours of United States History (three hours of Tennessee History may substitute). Students who plan to transfer to University of Tennessee System universities or to out-of-state or private universities should check requirements and take the appropriate courses.

Although the courses designated by TBR institutions to fulfill the requirements of the general education subject categories vary, transfer of the courses is assured through the following means:

• Upon completion of an A.A. or A.S. degree, the requirements of the lower-division general education core will be complete and accepted by a TBR university in the transfer process.
• If an A.A. or A.S. is not obtained, transfer of general education courses will be based upon fulfillment of complete subject categories. (Example: If all eight hours in the category of Natural Sciences are complete, then this “block” of the general education core is complete.) When a subject category is incomplete, course-by-course evaluation will be conducted. The provision of block fulfillment pertains also to students who transfer among TBR universities.
• Institutional/departmental requirements of the grade of “C” will be honored. Even if credit is granted for a course, any specific requirements for the grade of “C” by the receiving institution will be enforced.
• In certain majors, specific courses must be taken also in general education. It is important that students and advisors be aware of any major requirements that must be fulfilled under lower-division general education.

Courses designated to fulfill general education requirements by Volunteer State Community College are listed below. Although the courses fulfilling the common lower-division general education core curriculum may vary in actual design among institutions, many contain similar content. A complete listing of the courses fulfilling general education requirements for all system institutions is available on the TBR website (www.tbr.edu) under Transfer and Articulation Information.

Regents Online Degree Program

Tennessee Board of Regents colleges, universities, and technology centers joined to offer the Regents Online Degree Programs (RODP). Courses completed in the Regents Online Degree Programs are online and transferable among all participating institutions. Students are able to choose the college or university (home school) for their admission, registration, and the award of their degree. Volunteer State Community College offers the following online associate degrees:

Associate of Arts in General Studies (University Parallel)
Associate of Science in General Studies (University Parallel)
Associate of Applied Science in Professional Studies: Concentration in Information Technology Online

Associate Degrees earned at VSCC will transfer to Tennessee Board of Regents universities and credit will be accepted for Regents Online Bachelor Degrees in General Studies and Professional Studies. The Bachelor Degrees may be completed through the six TBR Universities.

For additional information, please contact the Volunteer State RODP Coordinator in the Admissions Office at 615-230-3689 or visit the RODP web site: www.tn.regentsdegrees.org.