The Associate in Arts degree requires 60 eligible college-level credits including 36 credits in general education, 24 credits of acceptable electives, and satisfaction of the foreign language proficiency requirement.
The general education program at Valencia is an integral part of the A.A. degree program and is designed to contribute to the student’s educational growth by providing a basic liberal arts education. A student who completes the general education program should have achieved the following outcomes:
Cultural and Historical Understanding: Demonstrate understanding of the diverse traditions of the world, and an individual’s place in it.
Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning: Use processes, procedures, data, or evidence to solve problems and make effective decisions.
Communication Skills: Engage in effective interpersonal, oral and written communication.
Ethical Responsibility: Demonstrate awareness of personal responsibility in one’s civic, social and academic life.
Information Literacy: Locate, evaluate and effectively use information from diverse sources.
Critical Thinking: Effectively analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and apply information and ideas from diverse sources and disciplines.
The general education program is 36 semester credits which serve as the core of the curriculum. The 36 credits are selected from 5 core areas of academic courses offered at Valencia: Communications, Humanities, Mathematics, Science and Social Sciences.
Core courses are established by the State Board of Education to create a common General Education experience at every public institution in each of the 5 core areas. Core courses must be offered and accepted by every Florida College System (FCS) and State University System (SUS) institution. Core courses account for 15 credits in the General Education program. Institutional courses are established by each college and university to support their General Education program outcomes. Institutional courses account for the remaining 21 credits of the 36 credit General Education program.
| Area 1. Communications | 12 | |
| Area 2. Humanities | 6 | |
| Area 3. Mathematics | 6 | |
| Area 4. Science | 6 | |
| Area 5. Social Sciences | 6 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 36 | |
Students who complete ENC 1101 FRESHMAN COMPOSITION I with a grade of C or better will earn the Fundamentals of Written Communication digital badge.
MUT 1111 must be paired with MUL 1010 to satisfy both the Institutional Humanities and Gordon Rule requirements.
This course must be completed with a grade of C or better.
This course has a prerequisite; check description in Valencia catalog
This is a General Education course.
Denotes a Gordon Rule course
Students who complete ENC 1101 FRESHMAN COMPOSITION I with a grade of C or better will earn the Fundamentals of Written Communication digital badge.
MUT 1111 must be paired with MUL 1010 to satisfy both the Institutional Humanities and Gordon Rule requirements.
Most college-level credit courses taught at Valencia will count toward elective credit. Any credits in excess of the minimum required in any of the five core areas listed above will count as elective credits. University majors require certain prerequisite courses before transferring; these are the courses that should be taken as electives at Valencia.
To select the most appropriate electives, create an education plan through Atlas for review with a Student Services staff member.
Valencia’s college-level foreign language proficiency requirement can be satisfied in one of the following ways:
| ARA 1120 & ARA 1121 | ELEMENTARY ARABIC I and ELEMENTARY ARABIC II | 8 |
| ASL 2140 & ASL 2150 | AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE I and AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE II | 8 |
| FRE 1120 & FRE 1121 | ELEMENTARY FRENCH I and ELEMENTARY FRENCH II | 8 |
| GER 1120 & GER 1121 | ELEMENTARY GERMAN I and ELEMENTARY GERMAN II | 8 |
| LAT 1120 & LAT 1121 | ELEMENTARY LATIN I and ELEMENTARY LATIN II | 8 |
| POR 1120 & POR 1121 | ELEMENTARY PORTUGUESE I and ELEMENTARY PORTUGUESE II | 8 |
| SPN 1120 & SPN 1121 | ELEMENTARY SPANISH I and ELEMENTARY SPANISH II | 8 |
| SPN 1340 & SPN 1341 | SPANISH FOR HERITAGE SPEAKER and SPANISH FOR HERITAGE SPEAKER II | 8 |
Note: Satisfaction of this graduation requirement for Valencia may also satisfy the foreign language admission requirement for Florida public universities; it may or may not satisfy a specific university graduation requirement. Students are encouraged to find out the specific requirements of institutions in which they are interested.
Satisfy the civic literacy requirement. As per Florida Rule 6A-10.04213*, prior to the award of an associate in arts or baccalaureate degree, students initially entering a Florida College System institution in the 2021-22 school year, and thereafter must demonstrate competency in civic literacy prior to graduation by:
a. receiving a passing score on the Florida Civic Literacy Exam (FCLE), and
b. successful completion of one of the following:
Valencia College provides equal opportunity for educational opportunities and employment to all. Contact the Office of Organizational Development and Human Resources for information.
P.O. Box 3028, Orlando, Florida 32802
407-299-5000
© 2024-25 Valencia College
State Board of Education Rule 6A-10.030, the Gordon Rule, requires that students complete with grades of C or better 12 credits in designated courses in which the student is required to demonstrate college-level writing skills through multiple assignments and six credits of mathematics course work at the level of college algebra or higher. These courses must be completed successfully (grades of C or better) prior to the receipt of an A.A. degree and prior to entry into the upper division of a Florida public university.
Click read more to see Gen. Ed. courses.