Designed for students who are planning on transferring to a four year college or university, the Associate of Arts and Sciences degree program fulfills most general education requirements, but does not necessarily place students on the fast track to high paying careers.
“The Associate of Arts degree is not designed to give you a job,” said Academic Advisor Rukhi Jan. “But, it can knock out the first two years of any four college degree if you plan it right.”
Ninety-four credit hours are necessary to complete an Associate of Arts or Sciences degree. Approximately 75 percent of the classes are core subjects that most degrees require, while 25 percent of the classes are in a specific field that a student is interested in, according to Jan.
Due to its emphasis on general education, undecided students are initially placed into the Liberal Arts and Sciences Program where they take core subjects like math, english and science. Jan says this is done so students “don’t waste a lot of their time or money taking classes that are unnecessary.”
Director of Academic Advising Jan M. Tyler says that students starting their collegiate career in Liberal Arts and Sciences can help them decide on a major.
“Sometimes students will start in their general education and find areas they are interested in,” Tyler said. “They’ll find that they like math now or that they really like to write or psychology is really interesting and they find a career path based on the fact that they started with their general education.”
While the Liberal Arts and Sciences degree is not specifically designed to get you a job, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find one.
“Employment opportunities for liberal arts students– while they are out there – are varied,” said Career Services Manager Matt Massie. “I can’t really tell you one specific job you can get with that degree because it is not like engineering where a specific skill equals a specific job. Because of that, pay ranges are all across the board, from entry-level pay to making pretty decent money. It just depends what opportunity presents itself at what time.”
Despite the fact that a Liberal Arts degree doesn’t give you a specific skill that employers are looking for, it does however give you a skill that most jobs require.
The whole Liberal Arts and Sciences degree is about critical thinking,” Jan said. “The reason you have so many subjects to take and enjoy is to make you a well-rounded, educated person.”