Associate of Science Transfer in Computer Science

Overview

The Associate of Science Transfer in Computer Science (AST-CS) degree is designed for students planning to transfer credits to an Oregon public university and seek entry into that institution’s Computer Science program. Students completing the AST-CS will have met the lower-division General Education requirements of an Oregon public university's baccalaureate degree program. Students transferring will have junior status for registration purposes, if all university-specific requirements have been met.

The Computer Science Major curriculum presented below outlines Oregon community college coursework to complete in order to transfer seamlessly to any Oregon four-year public university to earn a bachelor of science (B.S.) in computer science.

Students who complete courses that fit the listed Computer Science MTM categories and complete all science series coursework at one school can expect that all of their courses will transfer into general education, major requirements, or electives at any Oregon public university offering a bachelor of science (B.S.) in computer science. Students who complete all of the listed coursework and have a total of 90 credits can also complete an associate degree. Because completion of the listed coursework or an associate degree is not required, students can transfer to their intended university at any time. Completion of the University-specific curriculum required courses are sufficient to enable transfer at Junior standing within the major.

Admission to an Oregon public university is not guaranteed upon completion of the AST-CS degree. Some institutions have specific requirements for admission. Examples include: a higher minimum GPA requirement, a requirement that specific courses within the AST-CS be taken for a letter grade (meaning that courses taken P/NP will not be accepted), or additional coursework. It is strongly recommended that students contact the specific Oregon public universitys early in the first term of their AST-CS course work to be advised of admission requirements.

Academic Requirements

The AST-CS is awarded to students who meet the following:

1. Associate Degree Comprehensive Requirements

2. Associate of Science Transfer in Computer Science Requirements

All courses must be passed with a grade of “P” or “C” or better. Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 at the time the AST-CS is awarded.

Important Note: There is a decision point at the end of the first year of community college studies, at which point a student must decide between transfer to the OSU/PSU/UO cluster or the EOU/SOU/WOU cluster of university degree programs. The course substitutions and recommendations listed below should only be considered by students who are certain of both their intended major and transfer destination.

Core Transfer Map (CTM) Requirements (31-38 credits)

All courses must be a minimum of three credits.

• Writing* (3-4 credits): WR 121Z
• Math* (8 credits): MTH 111Z and MTH 112Z.
• Arts and Letters (6-8 credits): Complete at least two courses chosen from approved AAOT-degree Arts & Letters General Education course list.
• Social Sciences (6-8 credits): Complete at least two courses chosen from approved AAOT-degree General Education Social Science course list.
• Natural Sciences (8-10 credits):
  • OSU/PSU/UO Transfer Pathway: BIO211 and 212 or CH221 and 222 or PHY211 and 212.
  • EOU/SOU/WOU Transfer Pathway: Any two Lab Science courses.

* At least 1 Core Transfer Requirement course must also be an AAOT-approved Cultural Literacy course.

Additional Major Transfer Map (MTM) Requirements (6-8 credits)

• General Education (Writing) (3-4 credits):
  • OSU/PSU/UO Transfer Pathway: WR227
  • EOU/SOU/WOU Transfer Pathway: WR122Z
• Oral Communication (3-4 credits):
  • OSU/PSU/UO Transfer Pathway and EOU/SOU/WOU Transfer Pathway: COMM111Z

Major Transfer Map (MTM) Requirements (30-50 credits)

• Computer Science (16-21 credits):
  • OSU/PSU/UO Transfer Pathway (20-21 credits): CS160, CS161, CS162, CS260, CS205
  • EOU/SOU/WOU Transfer Pathway (16 credits): CS160, CS161, CS162, CS260
• Mathematics (8-16 credits):
  • OSU/PSU/UO Transfer Pathway (16 credits): MTH251 and MTH252 and either MTH231 and MTH232 or CS250 and CS251
  • EOU/SOU/WOU Transfer Pathway (8 credits): MTH251 and MTH252
• Natural Sciences (OSU/PSU/UO Transfer Pathway only) (4-5 credits): Third course in sequence selected under Core Transfer Natural Science requirements: either PHY213, BI213, or CH223

Additional Elective Course Recommendations (to total minimum 90 credits for degree)

Some of the universities have recommendations for elective courses that appear in the schedule for their cluster; while these are not required, following those recommendations will give the student more choice once they transfer. Those recommendations are documented in the following table. The way to use this table is as follows: if a student has decided to transfer to a particular university, the student should attempt to follow those recommendations for any remaining electives in their MTM-CS studies. Note that there is no guarantee that following the recommendations for one university in a cluster will also serve the same purpose in another university in that cluster.

University-specific Elective Recommendations:

University-specific Letter Grade Requirements: If the cell is blank, you must achieve a minimum letter grade of C- in that course.

University Specific Prerequisites, Recommendations

Each Oregon public university has different requirements for its Computer Science program; in some cases, meeting the minimum requirements of the AST-CS degree will not fulfill the eligibility requirements for admission to the school’s Computer Science program. Examples of eligibility requirements include: a higher minimum GPA for admission than is required for the AST-CS, a requirement that specific courses within the AST-CS degree be taken for a letter grade (courses taken P/NP will not be accepted), or additional coursework beyond that included in the AST-CS. Students are advised to contact their Oregon public university destination's Computer Science program early in the first term of their AST-CS course work to be advised of admission and additional course requirements beyond those stipulated above.

AST-CS Outcomes

Students who complete this degree should be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability for sound reasoning and problem-solving by planning, documenting, implementing, testing, and executing computer solutions to real-life problems.
• Apply knowledge of mathematics in the development of computer algorithms and solutions.
• Discuss key ethical issues and global concerns in relation to the field of computer science, and their responsibility to this field as computer science professionals of the future. 
• Research, identify, evaluate, analyze, select, and implement current technologies as appropriate in order to implement effective solutions.