Degrees and Certificates Awarded
Normandale’s academic awards include certificates (4-30 credits), Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC) certification (40 credits), and degrees (60 or more credits).
Except for a few of the technical certificates, all awards require some general education, which Minnesota State defines as Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC) Goal Areas. All degrees require that some number of MnTC goals be completed. Three MnTC goals must be completed for an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree, 6 goals For the Associate of Science (AS), and all 10 goals for the Associate of Arts (AA). General Education credits for the Associate of Fine Arts (AFA) programs vary.
Certificates will always require the completion of a specific set of specialized coursework. Except for the AA, all degrees also have specialized course requirements in the form of a major and/or emphasis.
The AA degree major is always Liberal Education. It allows up to 20 elective credits. However, students are encouraged to complete one of several available emphases consisting of up to 20 credits of specialized coursework.
The AFA, AS, and AAS degrees each have a major that corresponds to the program of study. The number of credits required in the majors is 30 credits for the AS, 40 credits for the AAS and varies for the AFA.
It is often possible to earn one or more certificates on the way to completing degree requirements. It is also common for those who already have earned degrees to continue to earn specialized certificates throughout their careers.
Duplicate Awards
Academic certificates. A student may earn any number of academic certificates. Each certificate will appear separately on the student’s transcript, and each program completed will have its own printed certificate.
Associate degrees.
a. A student may earn any combination of different associate degree types (AA, AFA, AS, AAS).
b. A student may earn only one associate degree of its type (i.e. one AA, one AFA, one AS, one AAS).
Additional awards. A student may earn additional programs under the same degree if the student completes at least 9 unique credits under each program. Such programs may be completed concurrently or subsequently. The student’s transcript will reflect an additional program completion date if the student completes the additional program in a term subsequent to the term in which the degree was awarded.
Diplomas. One diploma will be issued for each degree type, reflecting the program(s) of completion earned at the time of issuance. Students who complete an additional program during a subsequent term in a degree type that has already been awarded at Normandale will not be issued another diploma.