Graduation Requirements:
Successfully complete program requirements with a 2.0 GPA (at least 15 semester hours taken at Iowa Central for AA), and pay non-refundable $25 graduation fee.
Transfer Students:
Are your transfer courses on the Iowa Central transcript? If not, see Student Records.
Effective Fall 2019
Approved 06/12/2018
Award types and Requirements
Associate of Professional Studies (APS) Degree:
Awarded upon the completion of a state-approved program of study intended to prepare students for transfer into aligned baccalaureate programs or immediate related employment.
The APS pilot degree was written into Iowa Administrative Code in 2013, primarily as an alternative to the AS-CO degree being phased out by the end of Academic Year 2015-2016. A limited number of APS pilot programs shall be approved from colleges demonstrating that other award types cannot meet their needs. The Department will study the effectiveness of APS programs with regards to transfer and employment success after five years and make recommendations to the State Board of Education about parameters and continuation.
The APS degree shall consist of between 62 and 68 semester (93-102 quarter) credit hours. Of those, a minimum of 30 semester (45 quarter) credit hours must be general education to include 3 semester (4.5 quarter) credit hours from each of the following areas: speech, mathematics, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, and science; 6 semester (9 quarter) credit hours of writing; and an additional 9 semester (13.5) quarter) credit hours distributed among mathematics, social and behavioral sciences, humanities, and science. The technical component shall consist of a minimum of 16 semester (24 quarter) credit hours of coursework accepted by a receiving baccalaureate degree-granting institution as credit toward a specific major or program. This technical component shall consist of a minimum of 16 additional semester (24 quarter) credit hours of CTE coursework accepted by the receiving institution as electives.
In addition, the APS degree program shall have a minimum of three program-to-program articulation agreements with baccalaureate degree-granting institutions, at least one of which must be with a public institution. Among these, at least one agreement must be effective prior to the APS program implementation, providing all three are effective within the program’s first year of student enrollment. The agreements shall provide for the application of no fewer than 60 semester (90 quarter) credit hours toward the graduation requirements of each articulated baccalaureate degree program.
Source: Iowa Department of Education Program Approval Guidelines. Issued May 2014
https://www.educateiowa.gov/documents/program-approval/2014/07/program-approval-guidelines-iowa-community-colleges
The following APS programs are available:
Return to: