Steps to Completion

  1. Complete Required Coursework – planning for this will start at least 1 year before graduation – meet with Communication Studies faculty and academic counselor early and regularly to plan completion of:
    • Communication Studies courses (see table below)
    • Specialty Area courses (see the Specialty Area page)
    • General Education courses (see your counselor and DegreeWorks)
  2. Submit Specialty Area Letter to Communication Studies Department – Communication Studies Faculty will review your letter at our monthly department meetings and provide recommendations or approval. This may take a number of drafts and edits, so please start this process at least 1 quarter before planned graduation.
  3. Complete Communication Studies Declaration Information Form and obtain signatures from Communication Studies faculty.
  4. Complete De Anza College Graduation Application for Associate's Degree and submit it (along with your Communication Studies Declaration Information Form & Specialty Area Letter) to Admissions & Records
  5. Celebrate your awesome accomplishments

Degree Requirements

Things to keep in mind:

  1. You must complete all courses with a grade of "C" or higher
  2. Courses marked with (H) may be offered as an Honors course, but either will fulfill requirements for an AA Degree.

Complete ONE (1) course from the following

Course Number Course Title Units
COMM 1 (H) Public Speaking 5 units
COMM 10 (H) Fundamentals of Oral Communication 5 units

Complete ONE (1) course from the following

Course Number Course Title Units
COMM 8 (H) Argumentation and Critical Inquiry in Oral Communication 5 units
COMM 9  Argumentation: Analysis of Oral and Written Communication 5 units

Complete ALL of the following

Course Number Course Title Units
JOUR 2 Mass Communication and Its Impact on Society 4 units
COMM 7 (H) Intercultural Communication 4 units
COMM 15 (H) Critical Decision Making in Groups 5 units
COMM 16 (H) Interpersonal Communication 5 units
COMM 70 (H) Organizational Communication 5 units

Complete Specialty Area Coursework

Specialty Area 12 Units from outside Degree Requirements listed above. Please contact an instructor to select specialty area courses. 12 units

Total units required for completion of degree 

Unit Type Unit Description Units
Major Communication Studies A.A. 45 units
GE General Education Courses 32-43 units
Electives Elective courses required when the major units + GE units total is less than 90  
Total  90 units

Although care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information above, requirements do sometimes change. We recommend consulting course catalogs, the schedule of classes, and the Degree and Certificate Programs page.

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