Programs of Study

General Information

Common Course Numbering (CCN)

Common Course Numbering (CCN) was adopted as a way to more easily identify the same course at different community and technical colleges in Washington. Courses identified as “common” between community and technical colleges are denoted with an ampersand (&) next to the department and course number. (Example: MATH& 141 )

Students who have taken Pierce classes before Summer Quarter 2008 must check the Pierce CCN Crosswalk to ensure they do not enroll in the same course twice as a result of new course number or title changes. CCN does not affect how courses transfer to four-year colleges and universities. Common course numbers, departments and titles were changed to simplify transferring between community and technical colleges. Student transcripts will contain a statement that alerts others to the Washington state Common Course Numbering change.

Please contact the advising center at either college or a faculty advisor, or go online to https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/sites/default/files/ccn.pdf for additional information.

Quarter System

Pierce College’s academic year is divided into quarters. Fall, winter and spring quarters are ten weeks in length; summer, eight weeks. See Academic Calendar .

Course Number System

Completion Time for Degrees and Certificates

Students are allowed up to six years to complete degree or certificate requirements that were in effect at that time. The six-year period begins when a program of study is officially declared. Students who do not fulfill the requirements in that period must meet the requirements currently in effect for their degree/certificates. All prior credit that has been evaluated as equivalent to current requirements will be counted toward their fulfillment. Alternately, a student may choose to meet current degree requirements.

Changes in Program

Official changes in the student’s program of study or change of advisor require approval. Students should meet with their advisor to discuss options. An official program change will establish an “official starting date” for the new program and preserve a full six-year period to complete the program under current requirements.

Discontinued Programs

If a degree or certificate is discontinued, students will be permitted to finish the program, to the extent the college finds possible, provided the student fulfills the requirements within three years of when the program is discountinued. Substitutions for discontinued courses will be permitted when appropriate substitute courses are available and when authorized through the course substitution procedures currently in effect. Requests for course substitutions should be made through the appropriate faculty.

Degree Outcomes

Core Abilities Outcomes

Critical, Creative and Reflective Thinking

Graduates will be able to question, search for answers and meaning, and develop ideas that lead to action.

Responsibility

Graduates will be able to respond by examining the relationship between self, community and environments, evaluating potential impacts and consequences of actions, and making choices and contributions based on that examination and evaluation.

Information Competency

Graduates will be able to seek, find, evaluate and use information and employ information technology to engage in lifelong learning.

Effective Communication

Graduates will be able to exchange messages in a variety of contexts using multiple methods.

Multiculturalism

Graduates will demonstrate knowledge of diverse ideas, cultures and experiences and the ability to examine their own attitudes and assumptions in order to engage others with civility and empathy.

Fundamental Areas of Knowledge Outcomes

Communication

Graduates identify, analyze and evaluate rhetorical strategies in their own and other’s writing in order to communicate effectively.

Humanities

Graduates acquire skills to critically interpret, analyze and evaluate forms of human expression, and create and perform as an expression of the human experience.

Social Sciences

Graduates use social science research methods and/or theory in order to analyze and interpret social phenomena.

Natural Sciences

Graduates use the scientific method to analyze natural phenomena and acquire skills to evaluate authenticity of data/information relative to the natural world.

Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning

Graduates utilize mathematical, symbolic, logical, graphical, geometric, or statistical analysis for the interpretation and solution of problems in the natural world and human society.

University Transfer Degrees

University Transfer Degrees ensure that students who complete these degrees have satisfied the lower division general education/core requirements and lower division degree related requirements for the baccalaureate institutions.

All students are required to successfully complete COLLG 110 College Success  during the first or second quarter of attendance. College Success is designed to prepare students to navigate the college system and enhance opportunities for success. The course emphasizes college success strategies, self-assessment, goal-setting, career exploration, effective study habits, campus resources, and efficient use of online tools for learning, educational planning and enrollment.

Associate of Arts (AA-DTA)  

Associate of Arts - Option B  

Direct Transfer Agreement/Major Ready Pathway (DTA/MRP) Degrees  

Associate of Science (AS-T) Degree Track 1  

Associate of Science (AS-T) Degree Track 2  

Professional/Technical Degrees and Certificates

Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS)  

Associate in Applied Science - Transfer (AAS-T)  

Associate in Technology - Specific Program  

Associate in Technology - General  

Professional/Technical Certificates