Academics » Areas of Study

Arts & Communication Area of Study

Let your vision be seen or heard! Participate in theater production, create visual art, interpret film, or communicate through written or spoken words. Collaborative and individual course activities will develop your skills and help you tell your story.

Explore pathways in Arts & Communication:

Degree and Certificate Definitions

  • Associate in Music (DTA/MRP) degree

    A two-year transfer degree for students who plan to major in music at a university.

  • Associate in Arts & Sciences (AAS/DTA) degree

    A two-year transfer degree with a wide variety of general education courses, plus introductory courses in your future major. It prepares you to transfer to a university as a junior. It is a good choice for a general associate's degree even if you are not sure you want to transfer.

  • Associate of Technical Arts (ATA) degree

    A two-year non-transfer degree that gives you knowledge and skills to use in the workplace right away.  Some ATA degrees have courses you have to complete in advance before applying to take the program's core courses.  Add the prerequisite courses to the time the whole program will take to complete.

  • What does DTA stand for?

    DTA refers to the "direct transfer agreement" among community colleges and universities in Washington state.  A DTA degree has the same kinds of general education courses as universities require their first- and second-year students to take.

  • What does MRP stand for?

    A "major-related program" (MRP) is a specialized transfer degree. Some university majors require a large number of major-related courses in the first and second year to be ready to transfer, and those courses are built into MRP degrees. There are DTA/MRP degrees and AS-T/ MRP degrees.