Associate of General Studies (General Degree Requirements)

AGS-ASSOCIATE OF GENERAL STUDIES #AGS.00042

Option 1

Option 2

The associate of general studies degree (AGS) is for students who wish to earn an associate degree and want to transfer to a college or university through an occupational or individualized program of study.

Option 1 - complete a balanced set of liberal arts courses, as well as customize any additional coursework.

Option 2 - complete two focused concentration areas of liberal arts courses, as well as customizing any additional coursework.

Occupational or Transfer:  Completion of a broad set of liberal arts courses in English Communication, humanities, mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences areas, as well as any distribution of occupational or applied areas of studies. This may include completion of a set of occupational courses that satisfy the development of occupational skills.

Minimum 6 credit hours.
Completion of a minimum of two English communication courses within a set of courses from the following options.

Option 1*: Select two courses in composition from this list: ENG 101 , ENG 102 , or ENG 221  

Option 2*: Select one course in composition from this list: 

ENG 101 , ENG 102 , or ENG 221 

AND Select one course in communication arts⁺ from this list:

COMA 103 , COMA 200 , COMA 202 , COMA 212 , or COMA 240 

Option 3: Select one of the following combinations:

ENG 100  & ENG 106 ; or ENG 100  & ENG 116 ; or

ENG 101  & ENG 106 ; or ENG 101  & ENG 107 ; or ENG 101  & ENG 116  

Completion of any two of the following sets of either humanities, mathematics, and natural science or social science course concentrations for a combined total of 24 credit hours, as well as coursework from every area to fulfill the Schoolcraft College General Education requirements:

Minimum 4 credit hours.

Completion of a minimum of two humanities courses.
Art, Communication Arts⁺, English (Literature), Foreign Language, History⁺, Humanities, Music, Philosophy or Theatre

Minimum 12 credit hours.

Completion of a minimum of three humanities courses.
Art, Communication Arts⁺, English (Literature), Foreign Language, History⁺, Humanities, Music, Philosophy or Theatre

NOTE: One humanities course must be selected to meet the Schoolcraft College General Education requirements, regardless of the general liberal arts concentration selected.

Minimum 3 credit hours.

Completion of a minimum of one mathematics course.

Minimum 12 credit hours.

Completion of a minimum of one mathematics course.
Completion of a minimum of two natural science courses.
Biology, Chemistry, Earth, Geography⁺,  Nutrition and Food Science, or Physics

NOTE: One course in math and one in science must be selected to meet the Schoolcraft College General Education requirements, regardless of the general liberal arts concentration selected.

Minimum 7 credit hours.

Completion of a minimum of two natural science courses.
Biology, Chemistry, Earth, Geography⁺, Nutrition and Food Science, or Physics

Minimum 6 credit hours.

Completion of a minimum of two social science courses.
Anthropology, Economics, Geography⁺, History⁺, Political Science, Psychology or Sociology

Minimum 12 credit hours.

Completion of a minimum of three social science courses.
Anthropology, Economics, Geography⁺, History⁺, Political Science, Psychology or Sociology

NOTE: One social science course must be selected to meet the Schoolcraft College General Education requirements regardless of the general liberal arts concentration selected.

Minimum 34 credit hours in any group of courses that are specific or supportive of occupational and academic goals.

Minimum 30 credit hours in any group of courses that are specific or supportive of occupational and academic goals.

All courses that apply to this degree must be at the 100-through 400-level with a minimum overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 unless a higher cumulative grade-point is stipulated by the specific program.

Minimum 60 credit hours.

Completion of all Schoolcraft College Core Abilities and a minimum of 16 credit hours associate-level Schoolcraft College General Education requirements in English, humanities, mathematics, natural sciences and social sciences.

The Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) may be used to fulfill the Schoolcraft College general education requirements.

PLEASE NOTE:  Students may not use the same History (HIST) course to satisfy both the humanities and social sciences distribution areas. Additionally, students may not use the same Communication Arts (COMA) course to satisfy both the Humanities and English Communication Distribution Areas. Only certain Geography courses can be used for a natural science or social science course.

There are two primary types of courses that may be used towards fulfilling credentials such as certificate, associate, or bachelor’s degrees at Schoolcraft College (SC).   The nature, goals, and use of each course determines the type of course and how it applies toward each credential at Schoolcraft College or at transfer institutions.  The two types of courses include occupational and liberal arts courses.

1. Occupational Courses - Occupational courses have a direct career relationship and focus on developing necessary knowledge and skills to enter the workforce within the chosen field of study-e.g., ACCT 103 , EMT 115 , MFG 211 , WELD 120 . Occupational courses may or may not transfer to another institution. The course description in the catalog will indicate if the course is an occupational course.  No SC occupational course may be used toward SC General Education (SCGE) or to meet the requirements for Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA).

2. Liberal Arts Courses - Liberal Arts courses provide general knowledge and theory in English communication, humanities, natural sciences, mathematics, and social sciences areas. Liberal Arts courses may fall into three categories:

   • Applied Liberal Arts - Courses that are focused on building particular skills through the practice and application of talents or concepts-e.g., ART 248 , ENG 205 , CAB 102 , THEA 204 , MUSIC 114 , COLLS 105 . Applied Liberal Arts courses typically do not transfer to other institutions.  A subset of these courses may be used toward meeting the requirements for SCGE. The course description in the catalog will indicate if the course is an applied liberal arts course.

   • Liberal Arts used for Schoolcraft College General Education (SCGE) - Courses that are theory-based or application-based which offer a wide distribution of experiences to students across multiple disciplines-e.g., ENG 100 , PSYCH 153 , HIST 138 , MATH 106 . These courses may or may not transfer to another institution. Liberal Arts courses that do not transfer are typically applied in nature, such as MATH 106 . Liberal Arts courses that are intended to transfer are typically theory-based. The course description will indicate if the course fulfills a general education component -e.g., PSYCH 153 .

   • Liberal Arts Courses used for Transfer - Courses which are theory-based and offer a wide distribution of experiences to students across multiple disciplines-e.g., PSYCH 153 , BIOL 101 , ECON 201 , ART 120 , MATH 111 . These courses are a sub-set of the Liberal Arts used for SCGE which meet both SCGE and the requirements for the Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA). The MTA identified courses that are intended to meet the general education requirements at transfer institutions are identified in the course description. Information about the MTA requirements may be found at https://www.mitransfer.org/michigan-transfer-agreement.

*Credentials - documentation of satisfactory completion of courses that result in a nationally recognized acknowledgment of learning and skills. Schoolcraft College offers skills certificate, certificate, associate and bachelor degree credentials.

Liberal Arts Courses Fulfilling Schoolcraft College General Education and/or Michigan Transfer Agreement (MTA) Requirements 

Liberal Arts courses will typically transfer to another institution. They provide general knowledge and theory in the English Communication, humanities, natural sciences, math, and social sciences. Transferability of courses should be discussed with your academic advisor and may be dependent on the receiving institution.

Select the links below to view the list of courses in each distribution area that fulfill general education and/or MTA requirements.

• English Communication
     

• Humanities
    

• Mathematics
    

• Natural Science
    

• Social Science
    

* = Only these courses or a combination of courses may be used to satisfy the final requirement for MTA English Communications.
+ = Students may not use the same History course to satisfy both the humanities and social sciences requirements. Additionally, students may not use the same Communication Arts course to satisfy both the humanities and English communication requirements. Only certain Geography courses can be used for a natural science or social science course.