Associate in Arts (AA-DTA)
The Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) Associate Degree, sometimes called the Associate in Arts or Associate in Arts and Sciences, is the community college degree designed to transfer to most bachelors of arts degrees at Washington's four-year institutions. In order for the agreement to be valid for transfer, however, it is essential that the degree be completed. Otherwise, each course taken may be evaluated by the receiving institution separately, and some courses may not be accepted for transfer that would have been with a completed degree. For this reason students are strongly advised to complete the appropriate transfer degree prior to transfer.
Transfer guides are available from counselors and at the SCC and SFCC Transfer Centers. Students planning to transfer should consult these guides as well as information provided by the four-year institutions. Completion of recommended courses in a pre-major for transfer does not necessarily assure a student admission to a four-year institution or a specific program. Some colleges use screening procedures (cumulative GPA, test scores, major GPA, etc.) for acceptance into certain majors and programs.
Many four-year institutions have an admissions requirement of two years of a single foreign language in high school or two to three quarters of a single foreign language in college. Additional foreign language courses may be required for graduation. Students should check this requirement carefully for the institution to which they plan to transfer.
Lower-division major requirements vary among four-year schools. Therefore, students should consult the four-year institution to which they plan to transfer for specific program requirements. Careful planning is important in order to meet specific requirements.
For most majors in the arts, humanities and social sciences, the Direct Transfer Agreement provides the best pathway. Degrees based on the DTA -- degrees structured under the DTA umbrella -- provide:
- Priority consideration in the admissions for most humanities and social science majors in most four-year institutions ahead of non-degreed transfers.
- Completion of lower division general education requirements.
- Credit for all courses completed within the DTA up to and in some cases beyond 90 quarter credits.
- Opportunity to explore several fields of study through the category of up to 25 quarter credits of elective courses.
- Opportunity to complete prerequisites for a future major.
For more information, see the transfer program outlines section of this catalog. For a description of courses, see the course descriptions section of this catalog.
Reciprocity Agreement
Washington community and technical colleges (CTCs) offer reciprocity to students transferring within the CTC system who are pursuing the Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) degree or the Associate in Science-Transfer (AS-T) degree. Students who completed an individual course that met distribution degree requirements or fulfilled entire areas of their degree requirements at one college will be considered to have met those same requirements if they plan to complete the same degree when they transfer to another community or technical college in Washington. These degree requirements include Communication Skills, Quantitative Skills, or one or more Distribution Area requirements. Students must initiate the review process and must be prepared to provide necessary documentation. For complete information, students should contact an academic adviser at SCC, SFCC or the off-campus centers.