Skip to Main Content
Navigated to Associate Degree Requirements.

Associate Degree Requirements (A.A. and A.S)

Consistent with its mission as a Catholic, Marianist institution, Chaminade University assists students to prepare themselves for life, service, and successful careers. The Chaminade experience assists each student to develop fully through a course of study grounded in the liberal arts. Chaminade students are prepared for a lifetime of learning about themselves, each other, and the world they live in through challenging discourse and exercise in diverse methods of inquiry, moral guidance and spiritual exploration and participation in the University’s multicultural community. Undergraduate study at Chaminade University is structured in two parts:

  1. A general education core of basic skills development and liberal arts inquiry foundational skills, values, and a capstone; and

  2. Intensive study in a chosen field of concentration (the major).

Core Curriculum Requirements

Basic Skill Requisite for University Dialogue
Certain fundamental skills deserve particular attention in the first year and throughout the curriculum. Entering students may be required to take placement tests to determine their competency in reading, composition, and mathematics. According to placement test scores SAT/ACT and high school grades, students are guided to the appropriate level in a sequence of English composition courses or to required developmental courses in reading and mathematics. All students are required to enroll in composition and speech courses until they have completed English 102 and Communication 101 with a grade of “C” or better. EN-102 and COM-101 are prerequisites for all upper division courses. The University-wide writing standards assure that students learn to write for a variety of disciplines and practice and refine their writing skills throughout their years at Chaminade. The exercise of critical thought, practice in oral and written expression, as well as exploration of moral and spiritual issues is integrated into all programs of study.

Writing Proficiency
Writing is an integral part of academic life at Chaminade. Students are expected to write prose that is correct and appropriate to their purpose and audience. Furthermore, by the time of graduation, students are expected to be able to demonstrate competency in communicating in writing to both specialists in their field and to the general public. To this end, all appropriate courses at Chaminade have writing requirements. The sequence of writing courses is designed to assure that all Chaminade students meet these degree requirements.

The University requires all students to do the following:
• Complete EN-102, Expository Writing, with a grade of “C” or better.
• Complete additional writing requirements specified by faculty in their major discipline.

All students entering Chaminade are placed in the appropriate level of the composition sequence. Students then progress through the composition series until they have completed EN-102.

Exemption from EN-102 may be granted to those who have completed a college-level English composition course at a previous college with a “C” or better, and the course has clearly included, as evidenced by catalog description, research techniques and the completion of a research paper. Either the catalog description or copy of an acceptable graded research paper must be presented for evaluation within the first semester at Chaminade. If this requirement has not been met, EN-102 must be taken within the first two semesters at Chaminade.

General Education
The General Education program at Chaminade University has been thoughtfully crafted to enhance foundational skills and values so that students leave Chaminade ready for successful lives, service, and careers. The program gives students the foundational skills needed to be competitive in an everchanging world while also developing the whole person who is grounded in values that prepare them for life, service, and successful careers. These skills and values will allow students to discern essential problems through a variety of disciplinary lenses, develop core educational competencies, and values that engender productive and collaborative exchanges with a diverse body of actors.

There are three main elements of the Chaminade General Education requirements, including Foundational Skills, Values, and the Capstone course. General Education requirement courses must be taken for a letter grade and a minimum of 3 credits each, with the exception of lab courses which are one credit courses (but must be taken alongside the 3 credit course). The total credit units required for the Chaminade General Education is 44-45 credits.

Students who entered Chaminade prior to the Fall 2020 term are subject to the general education requirements outlined in prior catalog years. Transfer students who come to Chaminade with an associate or bachelor degree OR who have otherwise completed general education requirements from an accredited institution will receive a waiver of Chaminade General Education requirements. Note that all students must still meet a minimum of 120 credits in order to satisfy bachelor’s degree requirements (some programs require more than 120 credits) or 60 credits to satisfy associate’s degree requirements. Courses taken for fulfillment of the General Education may also count towards major requirements.


General Education Requirements for Associate Degrees

Foundational skills- 22-23 credits

Life Skills & College Success

CUH-100 First Year Experience Seminar

1

Writing

EN-101 Introduction to Expository Writing

EN-102 Expository Writing

6

Quantitative Skills

BU-254 Personal Finance

MA-100 Quantitative Reasoning & Math Skills

MA-103 College Algebra

MA-104 College Algebra for Calculus Track

MA-105 Math for Elementary Teachers I

3

Oral Communication

COM-101 Introduction to Communication

3

Quantitative Reasoning

BI-110/L People & Nature: Oceans and Human Health

BI-131/L Human Nutrition

BI-216/L Cellular and Organismal Biology II

BI-250 People & Microbes: Microbiology & Cell Biology

BI- 202 Financial Literacy

CS-201 Programming in R

CS-202 Programming in Python

DS-101 Data Structures, Data Analytics, and Data Life cycle

EC-201 Principles of Macroeconomics

EC-202 Principles of Microeconomics

ENV-115/L: Marine Environmental Science

ENV-201/L Conservation Bio & Ecology

MA-305 Math for Elementary Teachers II

3-4

Critical Thinking

AN-200 Cultural Anthropology

BU-202 Financial Literacy

CIS-471 Cyberspace & Cyber security Essentials

DS-100 Data Science Applications

EC-202 Principles of Microeconomics

ENV-100 Introduction to Environmental Issues

GE-102 World Regional Geography

GE-103 Human Geography

HI-151 World Civilizations I

HI-304 America Between the Wars

PH-100 Introduction to Philosophy

PH-105 Ethics

POL-111 Comparative Government & Politics

POL-211 American Government & Politics

PSY-101 General Psychology

3

Knowledge of Beauty and Creativity

AR-103 Visual Design

AR-111 Drawing

AR-201 Survey of Art I

AR-202 Survey of Art II

AR-250 Beginning Ceramics

AR-255 Beginning Sculpture

DS-403 Digital Humanities

EID-216 Design Principles and Interior Composition

PAR-101 Intro to the Great Composers

PAR-201 Introduction to Motion Pictures

PAR-205 Acting I

PAR-208 Fundamentals of Music

PAR-210 Fundamentals of Theatre

3

VALUES*- 12 CREDITS

Education for Adaptation & Change

EN-201 Types of Literature

EN-308 Climate Fiction

EN-319 Studies in Shakespeare

EN-422 Modern Pacific Literature

HI-151 World Civilizations I

HI-201 America Before the Civil War

HI-202 America Since the Civil War

HI-305 Contemporary America

HI-444 Samurai Japan

HI-450 Pre-Modern Hawai'i

HI-451 Modern Hawai'i

HI-452 Pre-Modern Pacific Islands

HI-453 Modern Pacific Islands

3

Education for Service, Justice, & Peace

EN-255 Short Story and Novel

HI-341 America Through Civil War

HI-403 American Diplomacy

POL-341 Vietnam War

SO-200 Introductory Sociology

3

Education in the Family Spirit

EC-202 Principles of Microeconomics

EN-285 Multigenerational Family Narratives

EN-309 YA Fiction: Comas, Catastrophes & Cats

EN-314 Backgrounds in American Literature

HI-301 Early America

HI-407 History of Rock-n-Roll

HI-438 Globalization and Capitalism

HI-444 Modern Japan

PSY-458 Psychology of Relationships

3

Integral (Holistic) Education for Global Awareness

EN-256 Poetry and Drama

EN-305 Multicultural Literature

EN-432 Contemporary American Literature

EN-482 Film and Literature

GE-102 World Regional Geography

GE-103 Human Geography

HI-151 World Civilizations I

HI-438 Globalization and Capitalism

HI-443 Samurai Japan

POL-111 Comparative Government & Politics

POL-375 International Relations

PSY-336 Unpacking the Home

3

VALUES- 6 CREDITS

Catholic Intellectual tradition and Education for formation in faith

Catholic Intellectual Tradition

RE-103 World Religions

RE-205 Christian God and Human Experience

RE-211 The Bible as Controversy

3

Education for Formation in Faith

RE-301 Jesus: God and Man

RE-308 Christian Ethics

RE-314 Hebrew Scriptures

RE-326 Christian Prayer

RE-338 Religion, Philosophy & Social Ethics

RE-346 Influential Women in Christianity

RE/NUR-371 Nursing: Ethics and Spirituality

RE/HI-322 Medieval Life and Thought

3

GE Capstione- 3 credits

Capstone

BU-471 Becoming a Data Jedi: Info Analytics

CAP-400 General Education Capstone

CIS-472 Cybersecurity Principles for a Changing World

COM-462 Media Literacy for a Better World

ED-482 Making the World Better

EN-497 Hawai'i Images and Stories

HI-405 African Americans and Racial Justice

POL-498 Why No Aliens? Humanity's Challenges

RE/PH/BI-488 Magic, Science, and Belief

3

*Must take courses from different disciplines to satisfy each requirement.

Associate of Arts (A.A.)
The Associate of Arts degree requires the completion of a minimum of 60 semester hours of credit with a GPA of at least 2.0 (C) for all work completed at Chaminade. The degree also requires completion of the general education core for Associate’s degrees. At least 15 semester hours of course work must be completed at Chaminade; if there is a concentration then at least half of the courses in the concentration must be taken at Chaminade. Students who intend to go on to the baccalaureate degree should select electives which fulfill pre-major and general education requirements which prepare the student to satisfy the additional requirements for the higher degree. Areas of emphasis are offered in Business Administration, Environmental + Interior Design, and Liberal Arts.

Associate of Science (A.S.)
The Associate of Science degree requires the completion of a minimum of 60 semester hours of credit with a GPA of at least 2.0 (C) for all work completed at Chaminade. The degree also requires completion of the general education core for all Associate degrees. At least 15 semester hours of course work must be completed at Chaminade; if there is a concentration then at least half of the courses in the concentration must be taken at Chaminade. At least 50 percent of the science concentration credits must be taken at Chaminade. Students who intend to go on to the baccalaureate degree should select electives which fulfill pre-major and general education requirements which prepare the student to satisfy the additional requirements for the higher degree. Areas of emphasis are offered in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, and Natural Sciences.