The Coconino Community College (CCC) will soon launch a completely online Arizona General Education Curriculum (AGEC) certificate that will help community college transfer students complete their general liberal studies courses.
The program will consist of a total 35-credit curriculum that meets general education requirements at Northern Arizona University, Arizona State University and the University of Arizona, according to the Arizona Daily Sun.
“CCC serves nontraditional students. Our students in rural areas, we haven’t forgotten about them, and we’re making strides to try and serve them,” said Kenisha Manley, assistant to the associate provost and CCC alumna. “A lot of the students we have currently are parents or they work full time or have two jobs, so I think the online certificate would also help those type of students.”
The AGEC program provides three certifications – A, B and S – that ensures that students would not lose their completed general education credits when transferring to the three northern state institutions.
The completed courses will transfer as a block, with additional university coursework according to major and university. In addition, completion of the certificate program with at least a 2.5 GPA guarantees the students admission to the three universities.
The AGEC-A certification is geared to transfer students interested in the liberal arts major and is the most versatile of all of the certificates. Courses under the AGEC-A curriculum include introduction to English, mathematics and sciences in addition to ones that promote awareness in history and gender, race or ethnicity.
The AGEC-B certification is geared to business students and the AGEC-S is for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students.
Last year, approximately 80 to 90 percent of AGEC students from CCC chose to complete the AGEC-A certificate. 169 students completed the program last year.
CCC officials said this is the first step in providing more online programs to students in northern Arizona. The next phase of this mission will be to offer degree programs completely online.