EDUCATIONAL PLANNING

(Don’t Take Anything You Don’t Need)

Part IV: The Associate’s Degree/Filling Out Your Ed Plan

Be sure to read Part III: Structure of a College Degree (Associate’s and Bachelor’s) BEFORE you continue.

IMPORTANT! You will be filling out Part I of the Ed Plan Form while you read this mini-lecture.

There are two versions of the form in a link in this unit, “Ed Plan Forms (Fill-In & PDF). Select ONE to complete.

What Are the Requirements for the Associate’s Degree?

The AA degree requires:

  • 60 AA units
  • Completion of a major (all required major courses)
  • Completion of the general education
  • Completion of electives IF the major and GE units don’t equal 60 units
  • Also, you need to have a 2.0 GPA or higher.

Units

You will need to complete 60 AA units.

Since most courses offered at SMC are AA-level, the courses that AREN’T AA-level are the Basic Skills courses that are listed on the AA degree document at click Associate Degree GE, see page 6 (BASIC SKILLS PREPARATION COURSES, which CANNOT be used toward the AA degree).

Fllling Out the Form

At the top of the document, enter:

Your name

Enter SMC for the name of the Transfer School

Number of Units = 60

Enter the name of the major

For the General Education, check AA GE.

Major

Remember, the major that you select will become your area of specialization. You will take the most courses in this subject area, so you will become an expert in it.

To view the courses required for a specific major:

  • Go to
  • Under AREAS OF STUDY, click Associate Degrees ORAssociate in Arts/Science for Transfer to the CSU System

Filling Out the Form

You will be listing EVERY course REQUIRED for your major. If you have a choice to take one course or another, select just ONE course.

On your Ed Plan, under Major, list each course:

  • Name of course (e.g., “Acct 1”)
  • Number of Units of the course
  • Prerequisite and/or Advisory. If there is no prerequisite or advisory, write “None.”

To Look Up Units and Prerequisites/Advisories, go to one of the following:

  • SMC Catalog:

oSMC Schedule of Classes:

General Education

The general education courses required for the AA degree can be found at click Associate Degree under GENERAL EDUCATION PATTERNS.

You will see that the GEs are divided by categories, and you need to complete ONE course in each catetory:

  • Area I: Natural Science,
  • Area II: Social and Behavioral Sciences (Group A AND Group B),
  • Area III: Humanities,
  • Area IV, Group A: English
  • Area IV, Group B: Rationality (math)
  • Area V: Global Citizenship.
  • “DOUBLE COUNTING”—A good deal! You can use ONE course for TWO requirements. This is called “Double Counting.”
  • A major course can also be counted in the GE. Example: Biology 9 can be used for the General Science major. It can also be used in the Natural Science area of the GE.
  • The Global Citizenship requirement can be “double-counted.” The courses in BOLD under Natural Science (Biol 9), Soc Sci Gp A (Hist 10), Soc Sci Gp B (many) and Humanities (many) can also fulfill the Global Citizenship requirement.
  • Example: That Biol 9 course in the example above can also be used for the Global Citizenship requirement! Therefore, Biol 9 can be used for THREE requirements for the AA degree, if you’re a General Science major!

Filling Out the Form

You will be listing EVERY course REQUIRED for your general education. For each area, select ONE course.

On your Ed Plan, under General Education:

  • In the first column, list the AREA (“I” for Natural Science, “!!A” for Soc Science Gp A, “IIB” for Soc Sci Gp B, etc.). You should have SEVEN areas in total.
  • Next, list the name of the course you select to fulfill the area:(e.g., For Area I: “Biol 9”)
  • List the number of units of the course*
  • List any Prerequisites and/or Advisories.* If there is no prerequisite or advisory, write “None.”
  • To Look Up Units and Prerequisites/Advisories, go to one of the following:
  • SMC Catalog:

oSMC Schedule of Classes:

  • For any course that you’ll be double-counting, put “--- “for the units for the second (or third) time that you write the course on your ed plan
  • This shows you’re using this course elsewhere and you don’t want to count those units twice

Now, go to Mini-Lecture VIII: The All Important Prerequisites and Advisories.