Associate of Arts and Associate of Science General Transfer Degrees
Students who complete an associate degree may be eligible to transfer to a senior level institution as a junior to complete a baccalaureate degree. Students transferring to a Tennessee Board of Regents university will have satisfied all the general education requirements by completing the associate degree at Chattanooga State. Students transferring to any other system (including the University of Tennessee system universities) should consult with the campus where they intend to go for general education requirements for specific majors. A grade of “C” or better is required in all prerequisite courses and in all courses specified by course numbers in the summary of required hours (ENGL 1010, ENGL 1020, and COMM 2025). A course with a “D” grade may not be eligible for use when transferring; therefore: “C” or better in all general education course work as well as program electives is strongly recommended.
The following table presents an example of course work leading to an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree.
Summary of Required Hours
Fall (15)
- ENGL 1010 - Composition 1 (3)
History Sequence (3)
Hum/Fine Arts Gen. Ed. Elective (3)
Mathematics Gen. Ed. Elective (3)
Social and Behavioral Sciences Gen. Ed. Elective (3)
Spring (14)
Natural Sciences Gen. Ed. Elective (4)
Program Elective* (3)
Program Elective (3)
Program Elective (3)
Program Elective (1)
Note(s):
*Six hours of a foreign language are required for the Associate of Arts degree.
Associate of Science in Teaching
K-6 Curriculum
The Associate of Science Teaching Degree (AST) assists students to complete some of the professional teacher licensing standards at the community college level. Students who complete the degree requirements and graduate can transfer into a teacher education program in any TBR university.
Summary of Required Hours
Note(s):
*Prerequisite: ECED 1010, 2010 or departmental consent.
Additional Degree Requirements:
- “C” or better required for all courses and a 2.75 cumulative grade point average (GPA) for all college level work.
- ACT > 22 or SAT > 1020 or Praxis I (Reading >174, Writing >173, Mathematics >173).
- Satisfactory rating on an index of suitability for the teaching profession.
A grade of “C” or better required for all courses and a 2.75 cumulative grade point average (GPA) for all college level work.
General Education Core Academic Certificate for the Associate of Arts and Associate of Science (A.A. and A. S.) Degrees
Total (41) Semester Hours
Note(s)
*At least one course must be in literature)
**Students who lack the required one unit (one year) of American History from high school as an admissions requirement must complete six (6) semester hours of American History or three (3) semester hours of American History and three (3) semester hours of Tennessee History to fulfill the history requirement in general education. Otherwise, students may choose from among the history courses approved at a particular institution to fulfill the six-semester hour requirement in history.
Courses designated to fulfill general education by the TBR Community Colleges are published in each community college’s catalog General Education Requirements/University Transfer Information . A complete listing of the courses full filling general education requirements for all system institutions is available on the TBR Web site (http://www.tbr.edu/offices/academicaffairs.aspx?id=2934).
Students pursuing an Associate of Arts degree shall be required to demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to completion of one year of college-level work (6-8 hours).
Tennessee Board of Regents Philosophy of General Education
The purpose of the Tennessee Board of Regents general education core is to ensure that college graduates have the broad knowledge and skills to become lifelong learners in a global community that will continue to change. Because course requirements in general education emphasize breadth, they are not reduced to the skills, techniques, or procedures associated with a specific occupation or profession. As a fundamental element of the baccalaureate degree, essential for full completion of all majors and minors, the general education core is fulfilled through lower division (freshman and sophomore) courses, but universities may add general education courses at the upper division as well.
General education provides critical thinking skills enabling students to discover authoritative answers to questions, and to solve challenging problems. Specifically, educated people practice and are literate in many forms of communication. They recognize their place in the history, culture, and diverse heritage of Tennessee, the United States, and the world. They appreciate the web of commonality of all humans in a multicultural world and are prepared for the responsibilities of engaged citizenship. They recognize the ethical demands of modern life. They demonstrate the skills and knowledge of the social and behavioral sciences to analyze contemporary society. They are familiar with the history and aesthetics of the fine arts. They understand and practice the scientific and mathematical view of the world.
Finally, Tennessee’s general education core provides for its citizens the means to make a better living. It also, perhaps above all, enables its citizens to have a better life.
General Education
Effective Fall Semester 2004, each institution in the State University and Community College System of Tennessee (The Tennessee Board of Regents System) shares a common lower-division general education core curriculum of forty-one (41) semester hours for baccalaureate degrees and the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Science degrees. Lower-division means freshman and sophomore courses. The courses comprising the general education curriculum are contained within the following subject categories:
| Baccalaureate Degrees and Associate of Arts* and Associate of Science Degrees |
| Communication |
9 hours** |
| Humanities and/or Fine Arts |
6 hours |
| Literature |
3 hours |
| Social/Behavioral Sciences |
6 hours |
| History Sequence |
6 hours*** |
| Natural Sciences |
8 hours |
| Mathematics |
3 hours |
| Total |
41 hours |
Foreign language courses are an additional requirement for the Associate of Arts (A.A.) and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees. Six hours of foreign language are required for the A.A. degree and twelve hours are required for the B.A.
** Six hours of English Composition and three hours in English oral presentational communication are required.
*** Students who plan to transfer to Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) universities should take six hours of United States History (three hours of Tennessee History may substitute) if one year of American History was not completed in high school. Students who plan to transfer to University of Tennessee System universities or to out-of-state or private universities should check requirements and take the appropriate courses.
Although the courses designated by Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) institutions to fulfill the requirements of the general education subject categories vary, transfer of the courses is assured through the following means:
- Upon completion of an A.A. or A.S. degree, the requirements of the lower division general education core will be complete and accepted by a TBR university in the transfer process.
- If an A.A. or A.S. is not obtained, transfer of general education courses will be based upon fulfillment of complete subject categories. (Example: If all eight hours in the category of Natural Sciences are complete, then this “block” of the general education core is complete.) When a subject category is incomplete, course by-course evaluation will be conducted. The provision of block fulfillment pertains also to students who transfer among TBR universities.
- Institutional/departmental requirements of the grade “C” will be honored. Even if credit is granted for a course, any specific requirements for the grade of “C” by the receiving institution will be enforced.
- In certain majors, specific courses must be taken also in general education. It is important that students and advisors be aware of any major requirements that must be fulfilled under lower-division general education.
A complete listing of the courses fulfilling general education requirements for all system institutions is available on the TBR website (www.tbr.state.tn.us) under Transfer and Articulation Information. Specific courses offered at Chattanooga State that meet general education requirements are listed below:
Humanities and/or Fine Arts (6 hours)
Social and Behavioral Sciences (6 hours)
History Sequence (6 hours)
Students should take a six-hour sequence in History of World Civilizations (HIST 1110, 1120) or United States History (HIST 2010, 2020). One course in Tennessee History (HIST 2030) may be substituted for one course in United States History.
Students who have completed three hours in Western Civilization (HIST 1010 or HIST 1020) should contact the History department for course offering.
American History Requirement
Students who plan to transfer to one of Tennessee’s state-supported institutions should be aware of the following:
- Effective July 1, 1978 and afterwards, all students receiving bachelor’s degrees from any of Tennessee’s state-supported colleges or universities must have completed one unit of American History on the high school level or 6 semester hours (9 quarter hours) of college-level American history as required by TCA Statute 49-3253.
- The law allows one course in Tennessee History to be substituted for one of the required American history courses.
- Students who hold a GED Certificate are not considered to have satisfied this requirement automatically. Unless American History was completed in high school prior to receiving the GED, the student has a deficiency which must be removed in order to receive a baccalaureate degree from a Tennessee state-supported college or university.
- Although college-level American History may be used to remove a high school History deficiency, the reverse is not true. High school American History cannot substitute for college-level history required as part of an associate or baccalaureate degree program. A student who has taken American History in high school may be required to take American History in college as well.
Students who lack the required one unit (one year) of American History from high school as an admissions requirement must complete six semester hours of US History or three semester hours of US History and three hours Tennessee History to fulfill the history requirement in general education. Otherwise, students may choose from among the history courses approved to fulfill the six-semester sequence requirement in history.
Natural Sciences (8 hours)
Foreign Language
The Associate of Arts degree requires proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to one year of college-level work. Students who have completed 2 or more years of the same foreign language in high school may be able to skip one or both of the elementary level courses. No credit is granted for the course(s) the student is able to skip.
Removal of High School Entrance Deficiencies
Completion of general education blocks also removes deficiencies in social studies, history, visual performing arts, science, geometry/advanced mathematics. Students entering Tennessee Public Institutions will be required to make-up any deficiency including foreign language before receiving a baccalaureate degree. It is strongly recommended that students remove all deficiencies as part of their associate degree program. Courses used to satisfy the deficiency in foreign language may be designated as electives or used to satisfy the Associate of Arts language requirement.
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