CCAF Associate of Applied Science (AAS) Degrees Published June 17, 2019 Community College of the Air Force, Air University, Maxwell AFB, AL BMT + Tech Training + PME + General Education = CCAF Degree CCAF General Catalog Structure Requirement Semester Hours Technical Education 24 Program Electives 15 Leadership, Management & Military Studies (PME) 6 Physical Education (BMT) 4 General Education (Civilian) 15 Oral / Written Communication (6) Mathematics (3) Social Science (3) Humanities (3) Total: 64 Purpose Primary Purpose: Preparation for vocational work Secondary Purpose: Stepping stone for Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree Potential Use: Stepping stone for Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree Discussion: Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees are vocational degrees designed to prepare students for a vocation. They are primarily based on technical training and not designed for transfer. However, in recent years, there has been an emergence of vocational degrees at the bachelor's level called Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degrees. AAS degree credits should readily transfer to BAS degree programs within the same vocation. AAS degrees are different than Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees which are educational (versus vocational) degrees. AAS degrees are not designed for transfer to educational bachelor’s degrees. Nevertheless, AAS degree credits can and do transfer to educational bachelor’s programs. In fact, CCAF has many educational bachelor’s degree programs within its AU-ABC program. AAS graduates should keep in mind when shopping for an educational bachelor’s degree program that it is always up to the gaining institution to determine which credits to transfer in from other schools. CCAF partners with over 75 civilian colleges and universities through the Air University Associate-to-Baccalaureate (AU-ABC) program. Category I and II degree programs at these schools guarantee that you will have to earn no more than 60 semester hours of credit to earn a bachelor's degree if you transfer in your CCAF degree. Category III schools transfer in varying amounts of credit from CCAF. Always do your research to make sure the schools and degree programs you enroll in are the right ones for you. Tip: If you want to earn a CCAF vocational degree and a civilian education degree, you can work on both in parallel and transfer in the general education credits from the civilian degree program to your CCAF degree. The end result will be having both degrees on your resume. General Education CCAF degrees are required to have a general education component to maintain compliance with the requirements of Air University’s regional accrediting body. With rare exceptions, these credits must be earned at a civilian learning institution. To help you with the general education requirement, CCAF has over 115 General Education Mobile (GEM) partner colleges and universities for which you are pre-approved to take their online general education courses and transfer that credit to CCAF. Accreditation Accreditation assures quality standards for curriculum and faculty qualifications are being met. The Community College of the Air Force is a part of Air University. Air University is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, master’s, and doctor of philosophy degrees. Air University achieved regional accreditation in 2004. Previously, the Community College of the Air Force was separately accredited by SACSCOC from 1980-2004. Regional accreditation is the highest level of academic accreditation.