Curriculum Office

Degree and certificate development

The Curriculum Office provides support to faculty as they create new or revise existing AAS degrees and certificates. These pages are meant to help guide faculty through the process of gaining approval from PCC and the State of Oregon.

Types of degrees or certificates and their required number of credits for completion
Types of degrees or certificates Credits
Associate of Applied Science degree: Must include 4 courses of general education 90-108
  • Associate of Applied Science degree option: At least 70% of the credits must be the same as the parent degree. Must also include 16 hours of general education
 90-108
  • Statewide Associate of Applied Science degree: Member of a statewide consortium of community colleges that offer a similar curriculum.  PCC can be a member or a host school for the consortium
 90-108
Two-year certificate: 16 credits or 480 hours of embedded related instruction in the areas of communication, computation, and human relations. This can be related to a degree (related certificate) or an independent certificate. 61-108
One-year certificate: 8 credits or 240 hours of embedded related instruction in the areas of communication, computation, and human relations. This can be related to a degree (related certificate) or an independent certificate 45-60
Less-than-one-year certificate 12-44
Career Pathway certificate: Is wholly contained within a 45-credit certificate or an associate degree program. 12-44
Business and industry certificate: Certificate is exclusively for employees at that business. It cannot be promoted to the public. Varies

How long will it take?

A new degree or certificate request will take a minimum of eight months and/or three terms to complete the approval process. A revised degree or certificate will take a minimum of four months to complete the process.

New or revised?

Reasons for a new AAS degree or certificate include:

  • results of a program change
  • advisory committee recommendations
  • external scans

Reasons for revisions to an AAS degree or certificate include:

  • course credit change
  • addition, removal, or exchanging required courses
  • degree or certificate outcome change
  • change in the total number of electives
  • change in total credits
  • program title change
  • program prerequisite change
  • change in status (e.g., open vs. limited enrollment)
  • related instruction: initial submission or changes