Certificates and Degrees

Certificates of Completion are awarded in many technical and career fields and are designed to prepare graduates for employment. Generally, certificate programs are about a year in length. In many cases, the courses completed for a certificate will also lead to an associate degree if the student completes additional requirements.

Specific requirements for each certificate are outlined in the College's curriculum guides, available from advisors, Counseling & Student Success, and the Enrollment Services Office.

Associate degrees are generally designed to span two years (90 credits) of full-time study. It may take longer to complete a degree if you need to polish rusty skills, if you attend part-time, or if you choose to take more electives than allowed in the degree. EvCC offers several degree options:

Two-year Associate degrees

  • Associate in Arts and Sciences - Direct Transfer Agreement:  The designated transfer degree, accepted by many institutions in Washington and Oregon. Download a full description of the AAS - DTA degree plan. Acrobat PDF Reader Icon 
  • Associate in Arts and Sciences - Option I: Designed for transfer to selected institutions in selected majors.
  • Associate of Science: Designed for transfer to selected Washington universities in science majors
  • Associate in Business - DTA:  Designed for transfer to Washington institutions for business and accounting majors
  • Associate in Applied Science - Transfer: Computer Information Systems
  • Associate in Technical Arts: Offered in a wide variety of professional, technical and occupational fields.
  • Associate in Fine Arts: Interdisciplinary program including visual, studio and performing arts.
  • Associate in General Studies: Combines a variety of courses selected by the student.

Requirements for All Certificates and Degrees

For a degree, a minimum of 90 credits is required, of which at least 45 must be traditionally graded courses which are calculated in the GPA. Where applicable, a maximum of three physical education activity credits may be included in the total. For any associate degree, all students must complete a Diversity Course. Such courses are designated with a "D" in the course number, such as ART 124D. The diversity course may also be used to meet degree requirements, such as Social Science or Humanities depending on the course selected. Download a complete description of the diversity requirement. At least 30 credits must be earned at EvCC.

For a certificate, the minimum number of credits varies by program. At least one third of the minimum credits required for the certificate must be earned at EvCC.

Students must satisfy all specific requirements for the certificate or degree sought, including the following:

  1. Students who apply for a certificate or degree while currently attending, or within twelve months of their last attendance, must satisfy the requirements in effect at the time of the award of the certificate or degree, or published in a catalog or curriculum guide in effect at any time during their most recent continuous attendance at EvCC. (Continuous attendance is defined as completing at least one term within consecutive twelve-month periods.) Students needing longer than five years to complete a given program may be subject to updated graduation requirements.
  2. Students who apply for a certificate or degree after an absence of more than twelve months are subject to the requirements in effect:
    • at the time of their last attendance if, in fact, they fully met the requirements at that time. The certificate or degree is posted with the date of their last term at EvCC. Or,
    • at the time they submit the application for the certificate or degree if they are using transfer credit from a more recently attended institution toward the EvCC certificate or degree. The certificate or degree will be posted with the date of the term in which the application was submitted.
  3. Earn an EvCC cumulative grade-point average of at least 2.0. (Transfer to four-year public and private colleges and universities is competitive. Many four-year institutions require a 2.75 or higher grade point average for admission.)
  4. Fulfill all obligations to the College, financial or otherwise.
  5. File an application for graduation with the Enrollment Services Office. This should be done during the quarter before intended graduation. See the Academic Calendar in the front of the Catalog. Students who plan to participate in the June commencement ceremony and have their name printed in the commencement program must file an application for a diploma by the deadline published in the class schedule and in the front of this Catalog. The deadline is typically about 18-20 weeks prior to graduation; applications received after that deadline will still receive consideration but may be delayed until the on-time applications are completed. The diploma application must be signed by an advisor, and must be filed in the Enrollment Services Office.