Program Offerings

College Transfer Programs & VCCS Requirements

engineering

TRANSFER INFORMATION WEBPAGE

The rapid growth of population in the United States and the demand for education beyond the high school have resulted in ever-increasing numbers of students seeking admission to colleges and universities throughout the nation. To help meet the needs of these students, community colleges, which offer the first two years of college work, have been established in all sections of the country. Southwest Virginia Community College, one of the community colleges in the Virginia system, is dedicated to the task of assisting students toward their goal of achieving a college education.

During the first two years of college at Southwest, students secure a broad education in the area of English, Humanities, Social Science, Laboratory Science and Mathematics, and Health or Physical Education; in addition, they begin specialized work in their own particular fields of interests. It is the aim of SVCC to provide quality instruction for transfer credit to senior institutions.
 

Minimum Requirements for
Associate Degrees in the VCCS
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Minimum Number of Semester Hour Credits

  General Education: (1)
AA		 (2)
AS		 (3)
AA&S		 (4)
AAA/AAS
I. English Composition 6 6 6 3
II. Humanities/Fine Arts 6 6 6 3
  Foreign Language 6 0 0 0
  (Intermediate Level)        
III. Social/Behavioral Sciences 12 9 (b) 12 6 (a)
IV. Natural Sciences 8 8 8 0
          } 3 (a)
  Mathematics 6 6 (c) 6 (c) 0
V. Wellness 2 (d) 2 (d) 2 (d) 2 (d)
           
  Other Requirements for Associate Degrees:        
VI. Student Development 1 1 1 1
VII. Major field courses and electives        
  (columns 1-3) 13 22 19 47 (e)
  Occupational/technical courses
(column 4) 		__ __ __ __
           
  Total for Degree = 60-63 60-63 60-63  65-69 (f)


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Notes: The VCCS Policy Manual, Section 2-IV-C, defines general education within the VCCS. Accreditation eligibility criteria of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) specify general education requirements and provide additional guidance regarding reading, writing, oral communication, and fundamental mathematical skills. Within the framework of Table 5-1 above, Section 2-IV-C, and SACS criteria, colleges must provide “...means by which students may acquire basic competencies in the use of computers.” In addition to meeting the semester hour requirements listed above, each college must develop goal statements which include the eight elements found in the General Education statement in Section 2-IV-C of the VCCS Policy Manual.

(a) While general education courses other than those designed for transfer may be used to meet portions of these requirements, SACS criteria require that general education courses be general in nature and not “...narrowly focused on those skills, techniques, and procedures peculiar to a particular occupation or profession.”

(b) Only 6 semester hours of social/behavioral sciences are required for engineering majors who plan to transfer to a baccalaureate degree engineering program that requires 6 or fewer hours in this category, provided that the college/university publishes such requirements in its transfer guide.

(c) Only 3 semester hours of mathematics are required for the General Studies major.

(d) Health, physical education, or recreation courses which promote physical and emotional well being.

(e) AAA/AAS degree students should plan to take at least 30 hours in the major; the remaining hours will be appropriate to the major.

(f) Credit range for programs in the Health Technologies - 65-72 semester hour credits; for nursing the credit range is 65-69 semester hour credits.

(g) All college-level course prerequisites must be included in the total credits required for each program.