General Studies

The Associate in General Studies (A.G.S.) degree from Oakton is for students who want to earn a degree while taking career-specific courses and certificates so they can get a leg up in their career. With the A.G.S., your degree program will touch on a variety of topics relevant to your interests. If you want to pursue a career in areas like cannabis transportation, logistics and supply chain management, paraprofessional education, managing and securing computer networks or more, the A.G.S. can help you build skills that can lead to a new career or career advancement. It can also be used to build a transfer pathway to a four-year institution and further study in your specialized field.

Even if you haven't selected a major or specialization for your education, the A.G.S. allows you to bundle the courses you have already taken into a degree that may provide economic advancement at your current job. Or you can use the A.G.S. to start earning general credits that allow you to specialize in a career area while developing collaboration, communication, literacy and critical thinking skills.

You'll take on an array of math, science, humanities and global studies courses as well as essentials like Composition I and Effective Speech, developing skills for your studies and career while exploring a wide range of topics.

If you are interested in pursuing this degree, you are required to meet with an advisor to develop an academic plan. That plan must then be approved by an Academic Affairs administrator. It will need to meet the specific educational goals defined by you and your advisor.

If you earn the A.G.S. and plan to transfer to a four-year bachelor's program, you may be subject to a line-by-line audit of your completed coursework to make sure they can transfer.