Mar 28, 2024  
2023-2024 Course Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Course Catalog

Associate in Science Degree (AS)


The Associate of Science provides the courses of study equivalent to those offered to freshman and sophomore-level students pursuing majors in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics at any four-year college/university. If students receive the AS from DMACC, this degree, in most cases, will meet the lower division requirements of four-year colleges/universities and will admit them to junior status level for a Bachelor of Science degree. Students should contact the desired four-year institution to inquire about course and degree recommendations. The DMACC Advising and Counseling staff can also assist students with the transfer process.

More information on Liberal Arts degrees.

 

Associate in Science Requirements


To receive an AS degree, students must:

  1. Maintain a 2.0 grade point average on all work applicable to the AS degree.
  2. Earn at Des Moines Area Community College a minimum of 1/3 of the semester credit hours applicable to the degree being pursued. No more than 43 transfer semester credit hours may be applied toward the degree.
  3. Complete a minimum of 64 semester credit hours.
  4. Include at least 48 semester credit hours of Core courses:
    • Communications 9 credits
    • Social & Behavioral Sciences 6 credits
    • Math & Sciences 20 credits
    • Humanities 3 credits
    • Distributed Requirements 10 credits (includes SDV 108)
  5. Include at least 16 semester credit hours of elective credit.
    1. Students may include no more than 16 semester credit hours of vocational/ technical credit.
    2. Students may have up to 8 semester credit hours of Independent Study Courses; up to 4 semester credit hours of Independent Study may be earned in any single semester.
  6. Complete 3 semester credit hours to satisfy the Diversity Requirement with a minimum grade of “C.” The Diversity Requirement does not increase the number of credits required for graduation. The course used to fulfill the Diversity Requirement may also be used to fulfill three credits of Core requirements in Communications, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Humanities or Distributed Requirements if the diversity course is listed as fulfilling Core requirements in Communications, Social & Behavioral Sciences or the Humanities. If the course does not fall under any of the Core groups, the course used to fulfill the Diversity Requirement may count as an elective.

Courses that satisfy the Diversity Requirement at Des Moines Area Community College may or may not satisfy diversity requirements at other academic institutions. Students planning to transfer should contact their transfer institutions to verify the transferability of courses.

Information on each program is found in the “Programs Available ” section of this catalog.

Semester 1


  • Credits: 1
  • AS degree Core Communication Credits: 3
  • AS degree Core Social & Behavioral Science Credits: 3
  • AS degree Core Humanities Credits: 3
  • AS degree Core Math/Science Credits: 4
  • * DMACC Elective Credits: 3

Semester 2


  • AS Core Communication Course Credits: 3
  • AS Core Math/Science Courses (may need to take more than one course) Credits: 6
  • AS Core Distributed Course Credits: 3
  • * DMACC Elective - Credits: 3

Semester 3


  • AS Core Communication Course Credits: 3
  • AS Core Math/Science Courses (may need to take more than one course) Credits: 6
  • AS Core Distributed Course Credits: 3
  • * DMACC Elective - Credits: 3

Semester 4


  • AS Core Social & Behavioral Science Course Credits: 3
  • AS Core Math/Science Course Credits: 4
  • AS Core Distributed Course Credits: 3
  • * DMACC Electives - (will need to take more than one course) Credits: 7

Total AS Degree Requirements - 64 Credits


* Students may include no more than 16 semester credit hours of Vocational courses.


 

Core Requirements - 48 credits


Communications - 9 Credits


Students must take three courses:

One speech course from the following list:


Humanities - 3 Credits


Students must select from the following courses:

Distributed Requirement - 10 Credits *


* See program requirements for year of program admission.

  1. SDV 108   or HON 101 [Inactive] (1 credit)
  2. Students must select the remaining 9 credits from any of the courses in categories of Communications, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Math & Sciences, and Humanities.

Electives - 16 Credits


  1. Students may include no more than 16 semester credit hours of Vocational courses.
  2. Students may include no more than 8 semester credit hours of Independent Study courses; no more than 4 semester credit hours of Independent Study may be earned in any single semester.

Diversity Requirement


One course is required, but this course may count in the areas above. Students must earn a grade of “C” or above for the course that is used to fulfill the Diversity Requirement. The courses marked with an asterisk (*) will satisfy the Diversity Requirement and will also fulfill requirements in Communications, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Humanities or Distributed areas above. The courses that are not marked with an asterisk will satisfy the Diversity Requirement and will count as electives.