South Mountain University
Program Description
South Mountain University
offers an Associate of Arts degree in General Studies (AAGS) to
meet the needs of adult students who want to complete a general
AA degree before entering into the professional programs.
The Associate of Arts curriculum provides a solid foundation and
overview within the academic disciplines of communication arts,
social sciences, mathematics, life sciences, and the humanities.
Instruction focuses on the development of skills on
communication, critical thinking, and computation, and fosters a
philosophical orientation that enables students to function as
productive members of society. The completion of an AA degree
also represents an important milestone for many students as they
pursue their educational goals.
This foundation provides students with the perspectives
necessary for meaningful self-examination of personal and social
values, as well as enhanced ability to understand and cope with
social, technological, professional, and cultural change. The
AAGS program is a lower division degree program designed to
provide a liberal arts education for the working adult learner
in a non-traditional format.
Sixty credits are required for the AAGS degree. The distribution
is as follows:
General Education Credits: 36
• Communication Arts: 6 credits
• Humanities: 6 credits
• Social Science: 6 credits
• Mathematics: 6 credits
• Science / Technology: 6 credits
• Additional Liberal Arts: 6 credits
• Open Electives: 24 credits
All students are required to satisfy
South Mountain University's
English, math, and
critical thinking proficiencies. Proficiency may be demonstrated
by successful completion of courses COMM/215, MTH/209, and PHL/251.
Proficiency may also be demonstrated with passing scores on
South Mountain University
English, math, and / or critical thinking assessment and / or
CLEP exams. All students must earn the minimum credit subtotal
in the communication arts, math, and humanities general
education areas regardless of the methods of proficiency
demonstration chosen.
Students entering with fewer than 24 transferable credits must
complete the introductory course sequence (ICS).