Section IV: Federal Requirements

4.4.  The institution demonstrates that program length is appropriate for each of the degrees offered.

JUDGMENT OF COMPLIANCE

Compliance.

NARRATIVE/JUSTIFICATION FOR JUDGMENT OF COMPLIANCE

 Northeast Alabama Community College is in compliance in demonstrating that program length is appropriate for each of the degrees offered. The college adheres to State Board Policy 712.01, “Degrees and Awards,” in establishing program length.

The program length for transfer studies is appropriate. These programs compose one-half of the total four-year degree requirements. While maintaining compliance with State Board Policy 712.01, the content and length of the programs are established under the Statewide Transfer and Articulation Reporting System (STARS), an articulation agreement among the colleges and universities of Alabama and the public two-year Alabama College System. STARS is directed by the Alabama Articulation and General Studies Committee, established by Legislative Act 94-202.

Northeast Alabama Community College offers the Associate in Arts (A.A.) and the Associate in Science (A.S.) degree programs with a variety of programs of study, all of which require a minimum of 60 semester credit hours for completion.  Most of the programs require 60-64 hours.  The exceptions, such as (Pre) Civil Engineering, can go as high as 67 hours. Under the statewide articulation agreement, up to half of the total four-year credit hour requirement may be earned at the community college. The number of hours in the student’s program of study is referenced to the number of hours allowed for transfer.

The program length for A.A.S. programs is appropriate.  In addition to the A.A. and A.S. degree programs, the College offers seven Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree programs.  Also in compliance with State Board Policy 712.01, these programs range in semester credit hour requirements from 63 to 71.

Table 1 lists the range of semester credit hours for the A.A., A.S., and A.A.S. degrees, along with an itemization of the credit hour requirements for each of the A.A.S. programs of study offered at Northeast. Tables 2 and 3 describe the distribution of credits among the general education core and the pre-professional, major or pre-major, and elective courses for each degree program.

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Programs that also have national or state program length requirements, namely Nursing and Emergency Medical Services, conform respectively to standards adopted for A.A.S. degrees by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, the Alabama Department of Public Health, and the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP) of the Commission on the Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).

All of the A.A.S. degrees awarded by Northeast are certified for program length and curricular content by the Veterans’ Administration and meet United States Department of Education Title IV requirements.

A listing of degrees and programs of study (majors) is published in the Catalog, available both in print and online, and on the college Web site. Program length is also addressed in Core Requirement 2.7 and Comprehensive Standard 3.4.10.

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