Academics » Areas of Study

Education & Public Services Area of Study

You're passionate about improving others' lives. Whether you're educating young minds, serving through law or law enforcement, or helping to make lives better through counseling, you can begin making a difference in the Education & Public Services area of study at Whatcom Community College.

Explore pathways in Education & Public Services:

  • 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 Applied Science (AAS) degree

    A two-year non-transfer degree that gives you knowledge and skills to use in the workplace right away.  Some AAS 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.

  • Associate in Applied Science-Transfer (AAS-T) degree

    A two-year degree with a mix of general-education and professional-technical courses.  You can go directly into the workforce, transfer the general-education courses to any university, or transfer the whole degree to specific universities where Whatcom has agreements.

  • Certificate

    A program that takes at least one year but less time than a degree.  It gives you skills and knowledge to use in the workplace right away.  Some certificates can be "stacked" with other coursework to add up to a degree.  Certificates are eligible for financial aid.

  • Certificate of Proficiency

    A cluster of courses designed to give you a specific job skill.  Most have three to five courses.  Some certificates of proficiency can be "stacked" with other coursework to add up to a larger certificate or a degree.  By themselves, certificates of proficiency are not eligible for financial aid.

  • 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.