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Associate of Science Degree

See the General Science section for entrance requirements and further details.

Note:

* To be more consistent with course credit values assigned by other universities and university colleges, many science courses have been reduced to 4 credits from 5 credits effective September 2006. There should be no impact on graduation requirements or transfer credit status, as no aspect of course content or duration has been changed.

DESCRIPTION

The Associate of Science consists of two years of university course work where students are able to complete their lower division program requirements for a Bachelor of Science degree if they course plan effectively. Holders of an Associate Degree receive full transfer of all courses counting towards that degree, even if the receiving institution may not have an articulation in place with any specific course counted by the sending institution towards an Associate Degree. While universities traditionally transfer based on GPA cutoffs, some receiving institutions grant a GPA advantage to Associate of Science holders.

The general requirements for the Associate of Science are specified by provincial legislation. To qualify for an Associate of Science, students must complete roughly 20 courses at the first and second year level. A minimum overall GPA of 2.0 is required, with a passing grade (D or better) in each course counting towards the Associate of Science.

General information on the requirements for the Associate of Science degree, and how universities receive them, can be found on the BCCAT site at www.bccat.bc.ca/otg/associate

Specific information on course requirements for a Bachelor of Science Degree, and the majors and minors available, should be verified in the Calendars for UBC at www.science.ubc.ca, SFU at www.sfu.ca/~science, UVIC at web.uvic.ca/sciweb, UNBC at www.unbc.ca/bscgeneral and Royal Roads University at www.royalroads.ca by referencing Kwantlen’s Educational Advisor website at http://www.kwantlen.ca/advising/aboutus.htmlor by speaking to an Educational Advisor at Kwantlen or at the university or university college where you intend to complete your degree.

Kwantlen currently offers several pathways for an Associate of Science:

  1. Associate of Science - Biology

  2. Associate of Science - Chemistry

  3. Associate of Science - General Science

  4. Associate of Science - Geography

  5. Associate of Science - Mathematics

  6. Associate of Science - Physics

  7. Associate of Science - BBA in Entrepreneurial Leadership*

    http://www.kwantlen.ca/business/entrepreneurial_leadership.html

    Note:

    * This is a unique pathway for students to gain a solid foundation in science while pursuing a degree in Business at Kwantlen University College. A degree with this focus can be useful in considering a business career that involves the manufacture and sale of scientific products or for working with industries (e.g., pharmaceutical companies) involved heavily in scientific research.

  8. Associate of Science - Royal Roads University

Note:

* This provides direct entry to third year of their environmental science and environmental management degrees.

Extensive detail on each of these pathways can be found on Kwantlen’s Science website at www.kwantlen.ca/science/ associate.html. As science and math requirements vary from one university to another for a major in biology, chemistry, geography, mathematics or physics, this website offers two descriptions per major. The first description provides an overall summary of requirements, while the second provides a list of required Kwantlen courses specific to each of UBC, SFU, UVIC and UNBC transfer.

Students planning to complete a Bachelor of Science should verify the transfer status at each university when organizing their course profile to ensure they meet the entrance requirements as well as be aware of the specific program requirements. Research has demonstrated that students transferring with an Associate Degree perform better at the receiving institution than students transferring at an earlier completion level, and are at least at par with those students who were solely resident at that degree granting receiving institution.

For students electing to seek employment at the Associate of Science level, rather than completing a Bachelor of Science, the associate degree attests that they have received a strong science education at the foundation level.

CONTENT

The provincial requirement for an Associate of Science is composed of 60 credits total based on 3 credits per course, and assuming a Bachelor of Science contains 120 credits. In reality, a Bachelor of Science may involve more than that because some courses may have more than 3 credits. It is therefore easier to list the requirements in terms of courses rather than credits, where a four year Bachelor of Science commonly requires 40 courses and an Associate of Science would have half that, or 20 courses.

  1. English Requirements

    Any two ENGL 1100 or higher, courses

  2. Mathematics Requirements

    Any two university level mathematics courses, at least one of which is Calculus.

    CAUTION: Most Science degrees require both Calculus I and Calculus II, which includes:

    Please note that the Associate of Science requires 6 credits of mathematics, which shall include 3 credits in Calculus. Institutions have the discretion to set higher standards, including not recognizing MATH 1112.

  3. First Year Science Requirements.

    Any six science courses from among the following:

    CAUTION: At least one must be a lab science course, which excludes the CPSC courses.

    Please note that institutions have the discretion to not recognize CHEM 1105, MATH 1112 or PHYS 1100.

  4. Second Year Science Requirements

    Any six science courses from among the following:

    CAUTION: Courses must be in a minimum of two subject areas

  5. Additional Course Requirements

    Any two courses in Arts*, not counting English
    plus
    Any other two university transferable courses

    Note

    * Arts implies any subject area not noted in the science categories above, and includes all geography courses not specified in the science categories above, i.e. GEOG 1101, 1130, 1140, 1150, 1160, 1185, 1190, 1211, 1212 and 2170.

Students lacking the appropriate prerequisites will likely require more than two years to complete the Associate of Science. Since the Associate of Science represents completion of one half of a Bachelor of Science, as long as the right courses are taken at Kwantlen, students should ideally be able to complete their Bachelor of Science in a further two years at the receiving University or University College.

GRADUATION

Upon successful completion of this program, students are awarded an Associate of Science Degree in the subject area chosen.