Excelsior Liberal Arts AA/AS (What is a focus?)

Hi All,

In a couple of the Excelsior information sheets, it mentions that you can earn a "focus" in one of over 50 subjects for either the Bachelor's or Associate in Liberal Studies degree.

I knew you could do this with the Bachelor's but didn't realise you could also do it with the Associate degree.

However, I have been unable to find any reference to what exactly a "focus" entails in the Associate degree.

Obviously, the requirement (for the AA/AS) will require a certain number of lower-level credits in a particular subject. But does anybody here know HOW MANY credits a focus requires?

Also, is this area of focus noted on either the diploma or the transcript?

Thanks for your help,
Beholdweb

 

I don't mind saying that I'm no expert on Excelsior but I think it's a safe guess that a "focus" is simply a subject area in which you have taken a specified number of credits. I don't know the specified number but the school surely will.
Jack

 

Thank You Jack,

Yes, I too think that a focus would almost certainly involve a certain number of credits in one particular subject. However, I have been unable to find a reference to specifically how many credits would equal a focus.

I am not enrolled at Excelsior yet and so I have to rely on info in their publications or the sage advice of the village elders here at Degreeinfo.com.

So what I am actually looking for is the NUMBER of credits that would constitute a "focus" in an Associate degree in Liberal Arts at Excelsior.

Anyone know?

Thanks,
Beholdweb

 

I believe you can earn a focus only at the bachelor level. A focus is thirty semester hours in a single subject with a certain number being at the upper level.

 

Hi Anthonym,

Yes, that is what I thought too. But in reading the Liberal Arts viewbook, I found the following (p.6):

"For each of the associate and bachelor's degrees, you can choose from nearly 50 areas of focus."

I knew you could get a focus (or a major) for the bachelor's, but the idea of a focus for the associate degree (other than business of course) is news to me. Maybe it is a misprint, or perhaps I am misunderstanding it. I have not been able to find any definition of a "focus" in the associate degree anywhere on their site.

Hmmm...it's a mystery,
Beholdweb

 

Excelsior Area of Focus option

From page 16 of the Liberal Arts catalog:

Area of Focus Option

As an Undergraduate Liberal Arts student you can complete an area of focus and have it listed on your transcript. The requirement for an area of focus in an Associate in Science degree program is 15 semester hours in a single discipline, either in an applied professional discipline (e.g., architecture) or in an arts and science discipline (e.g., history). Students in the Associate in Arts degree program are restricted to areas of focus in arts and sciences (e.g., music, psychology). All of the credits for an associate area of focus can be lower-level.

The requirement for an area of focus at the baccalaureate level is 21 semester hours, of which 6 must be at the upper level. All credits must be in a single discipline. Students in the Bachelor of Arts degree program are restricted to areas of focus in arts and sciences (e.g. foreign language, political science), whereas Bachelor of Science degree program areas of focus could come from either applied professional or arts and sciences disciplines.

There is no prescribed curriculum or sequencing of courses required. Areas of focus, as depths in the baccalaureate programs, will be advisor-recommended during the evaluation process. In other words, you will not “apply” for areas of focus at the time of enrollment. You can however, in consultation with advisors, build areas of focus into your degree program. Areas of focus can be used to satisfy the depth requirements. For example, an area of focus in engineering, an applied professional discipline, would satisfy Depth 2 for a Bachelor of Science degree student but would not satisfy a depth for a Bachelor of Arts degree student because both depths must come from the arts and sciences.

Liberal Arts degree students must have a 2.0 average or higher in their major, which each depth area, and for each area of focus. Areas of focus will be annotated on the transcript but will not appear on the diploma. No more than two areas of focus can be established.

Examples of Areas of Focus (list no exhaustive): Administrative/Management Studies; Computer Information Science; Criminal Justice/Protective Services; Health Professions and Related Sciences.

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Be sure to check the catalog. I had to transcribe the above excerpt due to a ridiculous security setting on the PDF file that prohibits copy/paste.

 

Thanks LiveFromHouston,

That is exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you for taking the time to transcribe all that text. It was very helpful.

Do you by any chance have a link to the Liberal Arts catalog? It doesn't seem to be listed on the Publications page.

Thanks again,
Beholdweb

 

I was able to get an AA with a concentration for UoP.