Associate in Arts (AA) Degree

Program Summary

The General Education program at SPC introduces all students to the fundamental knowledge, skills, and abilities that are essential to study further in their chosen major, to develop educated members of the community and the world, to provide the foundation for becoming informed, independent thinkers, who can comprehend, evaluate, and address the issues that human beings face in their personal lives, careers, and community affairs.

The Associate in Arts degree emphasizes a Liberal Arts education and is designed to transfer to a bachelor's degree at a state university or SPC. Along with classes to prepare you for your major at the four-year level, you also take at least 36 hours in general education areas.

The Academic Pathway is a tool for students that lists the following items:

• The recommended order in which to take the program courses
• Suggested course when more than one option exists
• Which semester each course is typically offered
• If the course has a prerequisite
• Courses that may lead to a certificate (if offered in the program)

SPC Associate in Arts Degree

SPC offers an Associate in Arts (AA) degree that can prepare international students to transfer to a bachelor’s degree at the college, at a state university in Florida, or elsewhere in the USA. Many of these guarantee admission for eligible students into select programs at the following universities after they have earned their AA degree at SPC:

• FUSE programs to the University of South Florida System
• IGNITE programs to Florida A&M University

St. Petersburg College (SPC) is an award-winning institution in a fantastic and economically robust location, St. Petersburg, Florida. The state is ranked #1 in higher education in the USA, according to U.S. News & World Report 2019 rankings.

2+2 System

Once you have earned your A.A. Degree from SPC, you are guaranteed admission as a junior to one of the state's public universities to pursue a Bachelor of Arts or a certain Bachelor of Science degree. In Florida, this is called the 2+2 system, which allows you to pursue a bachelor's degree by first attending a state or community college and then transferring to a four-year institution. At SPC, you take the same general education courses you would take as a freshman and sophomore at a university, but you get smaller classes and lower tuition costs - about 50 percent less than Florida's public universities.

Plan Ahead

Please be aware that admission to certain high demand universities or certain limited access programs and majors at state universities can very competitive. Admission to these programs may require an additional admission process and can be based on GPA and completing the foreign language requirement and all common prerequisites.

If you are working toward an A.A. degree, you should see an academic advisor and choose a program of study or major as early as possible so you can identify the courses you need. SPC has created dozens of A.A. transfer plans to help guide you in the courses you will need for specific majors. You can also find the requirements for about 250 university majors and track your progress toward completion through the A.A. transfer evaluation tool on the FloridaShines website.

Graduating with an Associate in Arts Degree

In addition to satisfying the General Education and Elective course requirements, students will need to complete the following:

• Complete at least 60 college-level credits.
• Complete at least 15 credits in residence (at SPC).
• Complete a minimum of two consecutive years of a foreign language in high school OR two semesters of a foreign language at the college level.
• Earn a cumulative 2.0 GPA in all courses completed.
• Earn a cumulative 2.0 GPA in all courses completed at SPC.