Length: 60 credit hours

SFSC is committed to a comprehensive university transfer program that provides opportunities for intellectual, cultural, and social growth along with specialized learning.

SFSC awards the A.A. degree upon completion of a prescribed program designed as the first two years of a baccalaureate program within the Florida public college and university systems. According to the Florida Articulation Agreement, earning an A.A. degree indicates that you have met the general education requirements for admission to the upper division of Florida’s public college and universities and will be admitted with full junior standing, provided you have met the state competency requirements, paid all fees, and met academic standards. You should investigate transfer requirements of the upper division college you plan to attend as early as possible to fit the appropriate courses into your program at SFSC. If you have completed specialized prerequisites, you are able to continue that specialty at the upper division institution. Should you not maintain continuous enrollment, you will be subject to all new rules and regulations adopted by SFSC since your last admission date.

Program Requirements

The A.A. degree is awarded, if you meet the following program requirements:

1. Successfully complete a total of 60 or more college credit courses which includes 36 credit hours of general education requirements and 24 credit hours of electives (See General Education Requirements  section).
2. Demonstrate a foreign language competency with an Associate in Arts degree or as an entry requirement for a baccalaureate degree. Competence may be accomplished with successful completion of one of the following:

• two years of high school courses in a single foreign language;
• two sequential college terms in a foreign language;
• the second level foreign language college course; or
• corresponding College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams.

American Sign Language satisfies the criteria of a foreign language for the purposes of this requirement.

3. Successfully complete the First-Year Experience (FYE) Seminar. You may be exempt from this requirement if you have earned 15 hours of college credit prior to enrolling at the College.
4. Complete a minimum of 25% of the credit hours required in the program at SFSC.
5. Achieve a minimum of 2.0 GPA in the SFSC credit hours completed that are applicable toward graduation as well as a minimum 2.0 cumulative average.
6. Successfully complete 12 college credit hours of courses in which you are required to demonstrate writing skills. (See reference to Rule 6A-010.30(2)(a), Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) in this College Catalog.) Additionally, complete 6 college credit hours of math coursework at the level of College Algebra or higher. Successful completion is defined as a grade of C or higher for each of the courses under this item.
7. Meet the Civic Literacy requirement by passing either AMH 1010 , AMH 1020 , or POS 1041  AND passing the Florida Civic Literacy Examination (FCLE). Competency can also be met through testing by achieving the standard score on either AP Government: United States, AP United States History, or CLEP: American Government.
8. Fulfill all financial obligations to the College.
9. Apply for graduation and pay the graduation fee.

Core Degree Requirements

All associate degrees at SFSC include a basic core of General Education courses from the areas of communication, mathematics, social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and the First-Year Experience (FYE) Seminar. If you are graduating with an associate degree, you must demonstrate the following competencies:

1. Reading - achieve a college-level score on a college placement test, if one is taken, earn a grade of C or higher in a reading course, or produce a current regular high school diploma or current high school GPA in relevant coursework
2. Writing - earn a passing grade of C or higher in ENC 1101  
3. Fundamentals of Speech Communication - earn a passing grade in SPC 2608  
4. Fundamental mathematical skills - achieve a college-level score on the mathematics portion of a college placement test and pass the math courses included in your degree curriculum with a grade of C or higher
5. Fundamentals of scientific principles - pass the science courses included in your degree curriculum.
6. Basic use of computers - earn a passing grade in a computer course at the College, have a grade of B or higher in an approved one-unit computer course on a high school transcript, or pass a competency test administered by the Computer Science Department
7. Civic literacy - earn a passing grade in either AMH 1010 , AMH 1020 , or POS 1041  AND successfully pass the Florida Civic Literacy Examination (FCLE)

Four-year institutions may require you to have earned higher grades in courses for transfer into certain programs. Check with your advisor and/or the transfer institution to learn about prerequisite courses and grades.

If you have entered the ninth grade in a Florida public school in the 2003-04 school year, or any year thereafter, and earned a Florida standard high school diploma, or if you are currently serving as an active-duty member of any branch of the U.S. Armed Services, you will not be required to take the common placement test and will not be required to enroll in developmental education courses at a Florida College System institution. However, you may opt to take a college placement test and/or take developmental education courses even if you are not required to do so.

General Education Requirements

A.A. Degree Graduation Procedures

1. You should contact a counselor, advisor, campus/center director, or the registrar to discuss graduation requirements. Normally, you would graduate under the degree requirements of the catalog in which you started or the most recent catalog, but there may be instances when another catalog may be more appropriate. Otherwise, you will graduate under the catalog in effect at the time you were admitted into the program and maintained continuous enrollment. You may not combine requirements from more than one catalog.
2. The registrar is the official authority responsible for certifying that all graduation requirements have been met.

For graduation (Commencement) ceremony procedures, see the “Student Information ” section of this College Catalog.