Associate of Science Degree

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 allow 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/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/degrees/index-html and Royal Roads University at www.royalroads.ca and by referencing Kwantlen’s Educational Advising website at http://www.kwantlen.ca/advising or 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:

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.

The Science divisions at SFU and Kwantlen have signed a Dual Enrolment Pathway Partnership wherein Science students at one institution can access courses at the other institution towards completion of their degree. The courses must be unavailable at the home institution either because they are not offered that semester or because there are no vacant seats remaining. The contact point for Kwantlen students is Kwantlen's Registrars Office at any campus, while SFU students will require a letter of permission from the Office of the Dean of Science at SFU. Students will pay tuition at the rate charged by the institution where the course is taken. Kwantlen students must be in good academic standing and enrolled in an Associate of Science program.

SFU guarantees course transfer credits and admission to finish a Bachelor of Science to any Kwantlen Science student who has taken an SFU course via the Dual Enrolment Pathway Partnership, and who has since completed a Kwantlen Associate of Science degree (with a 2.0 cumulative GPA or better).

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.

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.

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.

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