College terms you should know

Academic program:
A series of credit courses designed to lead to a degree, diploma or certificate in a field of study or occupation.

Associate in Arts degree, or A.A. degree:
An academic program of 60 to 64 credits mostly in liberal arts and sciences courses, designed to satisfy the first two years of a four-year, baccalaureate degree. This is the most common program taken by students who plan to transfer from a two-year college to a four-year university.

Associate in Science degree, or A.S. degree:
An academic program generally of 60 to 64 credits in courses designed to transfer to a bachelor's degree program in a scientific, technical or professional field. Also may be designed to prepare students directly for employment in a specific job. At least 30 general education credits are required.

Associate in Applied Science degree, or A.A.S. degree:
An academic program generally of 60 to 72 credits designed primarily to prepare students for employment in a specific job, but which may also be designed to transfer to a related four-year major. At least 25 percent of the credits must be in general education courses.

Associate in Fine Arts degree, or A.F.A. degree:
An academic program generally of 60 to 64 credits designed to transfer to a four-year degree in a designated discipline in fine arts, such as music, theater or art. At least 24 general education credits are required.

Baccalaureate degree:
An academic program generally of 120 to 128 credits, of which at least 40 must be general education credits and at least 40 upper division credits (junior- and senior-level courses). Programs are designed for a full-time student to complete in about four years.

Bachelor's degree:
Same as baccalaureate degree.

Diploma:
An academic program generally of 30 to 72 credits intended to provide students with skills leading directly to a specific job.

Certificate:
An academic program generally of 9 to 30 credits that can be completed in a year or less by a full-time student. Some certificate programs are designed to provide specialized programs for people who already have diplomas or degrees; others are for people who want to quickly complete a program that leads directly to a specific job.

Credit:
A measure of instruction in courses or other learning activities. A credit typically represents one hour of instruction per week. Courses generally have one to five credits; most have three or four credits. A full-time load is considered to be 15 credits per semester or 30 credits per year.

General education ("gen eds"):
Courses in liberal arts and sciences that typically are introductory and provide students with general knowledge and reasoning ability rather than specific skills for employment or specialized knowledge for a major.

Graduate degree:
A degree awarded for education at a level beyond the bachelor's degree. State universities offer graduate certificates, master's degrees and specialist degrees in various professional and liberal arts fields.

Individualized studies:
An academic program with courses in various fields of study selected by a student with the approval of a faculty advisor.

Liberal arts and sciences:
Fields of study in the fine arts, humanities (literature and philosophy), history, foreign languages, social sciences, mathematics and natural sciences.

Master's degree:
An academic degree program of 30 to 54 credits in courses at the graduate level.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum:
A 40-credit package of general education courses in 10 learning areas, or "goal areas," that will be accepted for transfer by all Minnesota State Colleges and Universities and the University of Minnesota.

Reciprocity:
The series of agreements that Minnesota has with neighboring states to provide lower tuition for students in one state who attend public colleges and universities in the other state. Reciprocity students typically do not have to pay the out-of-state tuition rate to attend school in a neighboring state.