Associate in Science in Liberal Arts
Associate in Science in Liberal Arts
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Online Associate in Science in Liberal Arts
Whatever your goals, ÿÈÕ´ó¹Ï’s AS in Liberal Arts helps you forge a nimble future and explore a world of personal and professional possibility. Build a solid educational foundation with strong abstract thinking and critical analysis, concise communication, historical awareness, scientific inquiry, and an appreciation for the arts.
Excelsior’s flexible program gives you the confidence you need to embark on new career paths, as well as the tools to pursue advanced education, with course options in art, literature, philosophy, political science, criminal justice, economics, science, and more.
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PROGRAM DETAILS
Online AS in Liberal Arts
- General Education18 Credits
- Major Core3 Credits
- University1 Credits
- Electives38 Credits
Associate in Science in Liberal Arts
- Year 1 - Term 1
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The future: the only constant is change. The only certainty is uncertainty. So how do you prepare today for what might come tomorrow? In this introductory, interdisciplinary course unique to ÿÈÕ´ó¹Ï, you will learn through questions, not answers. You will challenge your prior assumptions, open your mind, and consider society s future dilemmas, progress, and crises. You will plan and question your own future your educational path, career trajectories, personal interests, ambitions, and mindsets. And you will build the foundational skills and flexibility of mind research and writing, critical thinking, argumentative reasoning, metacognition, and self-regulation to help you navigate the uncertainty and change of our future societies, workplaces, and selves. Note: This course must be completed with a grade of C or higher. Registration in this course is restricted to incoming students with fewer than 60 transfer credits. This course duplicates IND301 and CCS120. Credit for only one of these courses will be applied toward graduation. The Cornerstone cannot be completed in the same term as a Capstone course.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3University Requirement -
Information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate, interpret, and use information legally, ethically, and effectively. This course provides a broad overview of information literacy concepts, including the differences between academic and popular research methods, finding and evaluating sources, reading sources critically, writing with sources, and safely navigating information networks such as the internet. Students must complete information literacy within their first 13 credits at Excelsior.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
1Zero Textbook CostUniversity Requirement - Year 1 - Term 2
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Arts and Sciences elective credit may be earned in those areas of study classified as humanities, social sciences, history, natural sciences, and mathematics. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Alternative Courses AvailableArts & Sciences -
This class provides students with foundational knowledge and skills to prepare them for academic and professional writing. By analyzing the work of other writers, students will learn to approach writing from a rhetorical and genre-based perspective. They will practice sentence- and paragraph-level writing, learning to revise and correct their own work. They will also work on finding, documenting, and effectively integrating sources into a research-based essay. Both traditional (textual) and multimodal (textual and visual) composition will be addressed.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Zero Textbook CostAlternative Courses AvailableGeneral Education: Written English I - Year 1 - Term 3
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The goal of this course is to help students develop mathematical reasoning and problem solving skills that will serve them well in their lives both in and out of school. Topics will include the important real-world applications of measurement units, managing money, statistics in the media, the mathematics of voting, and mathematics in the arts and nature. Providing correct solutions to routine problems is not the goal; more important is the ability to communicate effectively about mathematical reasoning and to solve realistic, practical problems both collaboratively with other students and individually. This is a survey course introducing the student to a variety of mathematical topics. It does not prepare a student for future courses that require a knowledge of algebra (e.g. PreCalculus or Statistics).Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Alternative Courses AvailableGeneral Education: Math -
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective - Year 1 - Term 4
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The purpose of this course is to give the student an overview of current and emerging trends in science and technology so that s/he will be able to make informed decisions and be an informed consumer. The course will introduce the scientific method and terminology used in reporting scientific results. A survey of current topical science issues will be covered as examples. This course will also prepare the student to read accounts about scientific, technological, and medical advances in the press and assess the scientific conclusions presented.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Zero Textbook CostAlternative Courses AvailableGeneral Education: Natural Science -
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective - Year 1 - Term 5
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Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective -
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective - Year 1 - Term 6
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Arts and Sciences elective credit may be earned in those areas of study classified as humanities, social sciences, history, natural sciences, and mathematics. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Alternative Courses AvailableArts & Sciences -
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective - Year 2 - Term 1
-
Arts and Sciences elective credit may be earned in those areas of study classified as humanities, social sciences, history, natural sciences, and mathematics. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Alternative Courses AvailableArts & Sciences -
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective - Year 2 - Term 2
-
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective -
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective - Year 2 - Term 3
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This course is an introductory survey of US history from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 through the recent past. The course examines the evolution of the United States from a nation torn apart by war to a global superpower. Students will study major political, social, and economic trends in the modern United States, with a particular focus on diversity and cross-cultural encounters. Students will engage in primary and secondary source analysis and learn to communicate historical arguments using a variety of tools. This course uses a lower-cost interactive webtext instead of a traditional textbook.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Alternative Courses AvailableGeneral Education: Social Science & History -
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective - Year 2 - Term 4
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In this interdisciplinary course, students will develop the analytical skills necessary to examine ethical issues in the workplace. Students explore conventional ethical theories and principles, develop ethical decision-making, and resolve common dilemmas. Students discuss the multiple challenges faced by professionals and identify ethical practices or codes that apply to each of their own professions.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Zero Textbook CostGeneral Education: Ethics -
Free elective credit may be earned in any field of collegiate study. Please contact your academic advisor to discuss course options.Prerequisites
NoneCredit Hours
3Free Elective - Year 2 - Term 5
-
The associate degree capstone is the culminating experience for students in the Associate Degree in Liberal Arts program. In the course, students demonstrate and reflect on the knowledge and skills they have acquired in the degree program and in other educational experiences up to this point. Students demonstrate mastery of the five Associate Degree in Liberal Arts learning outcomes: written and oral communication, cultural and global diversity, problem solving, ethics, and professional development. Students will Demonstrate these outcomes through individual and group assignments, multi-modal presentations, and a final research paper. This is an intense 8-week course with significant research and writing expectations. It is strongly recommended that students have prior experience with online course work, and particularly ÿÈÕ´ó¹Ï courses, before attempting this course. This course requires the completion of the listed prerequisites and the permission of the student's advisor.Prerequisites
The Capstone must be the last course taken. All major core and university requirement courses must be complete. The capstone can be paired with 1 other course that is considered to be general education course (excluding courses to meet the Written English Requirement and the Ethics Requirement), a concentration course, elective, or lab course (even if the lab is in the major).Credit Hours
3Zero Textbook CostMajor Requirement
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Copywriter
Use compelling language and storytelling techniques to capture attention and generate interest.
Median Annual Salary:$53,000
Warehouse Supervisor
Manage the day-to-day operations of a warehouse, including the staff, equipment, and inventory.
Median Annual Salary:$54,000
7%
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Administrative Assistant
Handle correspondence, scheduling, travel arrangements, and other office management tasks.
Median Annual Salary:$40,000
Lauren Harlow
AS in Liberal Arts, 2017
Institutional Accreditation
ÿÈÕ´ó¹Ï is an accredited institution and a member of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE or the Commission) . ÿÈÕ´ó¹Ï’s accreditation status is accreditation reaffirmed. The Commission’s most recent action on the institution’s accreditation status on June 23, 2022 was to reaffirm accreditation. MSCHE is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education to conduct accreditation and pre-accreditation (candidate status) activities for institutions of higher education including distance, correspondence education, and direct assessment programs offered at those institutions. The Commission’s geographic area of accrediting activities is throughout the United States.
Excelsior’s academic programs are registered by the and/or have Florida-based licensing with the Commission for Independent Education, Florida Department of Education (License No. 12928).
FAQ
Your time to completion depends on the number of courses you take per term and any transfer credit you may have. ÿÈÕ´ó¹Ï’s Associate in Science in Liberal Arts program is 60 credits and can be completed in two years.
An AS in Liberal Arts is a versatile degree that equips you with essential, transferable skills in problem-solving, research and analysis, and communication that are highly valued by employers across various fields, such as journalism, public relations, business, and community outreach.
With an Associate in Science in Liberal Arts, you can pursue diverse careers in fields like business, government, education, and health care, leveraging your critical thinking and analytical skills in roles such as copywriter, administrative assistant, warehouse supervisor, and more.
ÿÈÕ´ó¹Ï’s AS in Liberal Arts program includes courses in:
- Information literacy
- United States history
- Sociology
- Professional ethics
- Public speaking
With an AS in Liberal Arts, you are well prepared to continue on to bachelor’s degree programs in liberal arts, business, health sciences, criminal justice, and computer science.
