Associate in Arts Program

Telephone: (302) 571-5661
AAP Website: http://aap.udel.edu
Faculty Listing: https://www.aap.udel.edu/people/faculty

The University of Delaware Associate in Arts Program (AAP) is a two-year liberal arts degree program that offers UD courses, taught exclusively by UD faculty, in small classes at the Community Education Building in Wilmington and on Delaware Tech campuses in Dover and Georgetown. The Delaware SEED Scholarship covers AAP tuition for eligible Delaware residents. For other students, tuition is substantially lower-approximately one-third the cost of tuition at UD’s main campus in Newark.

With campuses in Wilmington, Dover, and Georgetown, the AAP allows Delaware students to stay close to home while completing the core courses required of all UD undergrads. After earning their Associate in Arts degree, most students then choose to transition to UD’s Newark campus to pursue their four-year bachelor’s degree.

The Associate in Arts degree is a UD degree, and the courses for the Associate in Arts degree are UD courses that appear on a UD transcript. UD faculty provide the course instruction, and UD staff provide academic support, including on-site and virtual academic advisement, tutoring, skills enhancement, and other services. Associate in Arts Program students have UD student accounts and ID cards that enable them to use UD academic, cultural, and recreational privileges. For example, Associate in Arts Program students can use the Morris Library or the Bob Carpenter Sports Center in Newark; they can join UD’s registered student organizations; and they qualify for student rates at UD theater, music, and art events.

Benefits Of The Associate in Arts Program

The Associate in Arts Program has been designed to prepare students for the completion of a rigorous academic program by building academic strengths and skills in a supportive, small-campus environment. Program participants receive academic advisement and assistance from faculty advisors and professional advisors at their campus. The academic advisors at the UD campuses in Dover, Georgetown, and Wilmington also assist with the transition of Associate in Arts Program students to the Newark campus for completion of a bachelor’s degree.

The distinctive features of the Associate in Arts Program are:

Small class sizes-AAP courses are capped at 35 students
Close faculty contact
Enhanced academic support
Curriculum structured to support decisions about appropriate majors
Focus on the traditional liberal arts (history, English, geography, and other related areas)-the broad education most in demand by employers
Freshman Seminar in the first semester
Tuition substantially lower than UD Newark campus tuition
Eligibility for free tuition through Delaware SEED Scholarships

As the AAP is a non-residential program, tuition is reduced, and students may also qualify for the State of Delaware SEED Scholarship, which can cover 100% of tuition costs for up to 10 semesters. The lower tuition and the eligibility for a SEED Scholarship apply only to students who enroll in the Associate in Arts Program and file a FAFSA. Therefore, if you take advantage of the lower tuition or a SEED Scholarship, please realize that you must be willing to earn the full 60 credits required for the Associate in Arts degree, which the majority of AAP students complete in two years, before you will be permitted to enroll on the Newark campus. Though the program has been expanded to include Delaware high school graduates regardless of their graduation date, students are still required to have started their undergraduate education in AAP to be SEED eligible. Previous attendance or enrollment in University of Delaware Newark campus or other higher education institutions disqualifies students from SEED eligibility.

The Associate in Arts Curriculum

The Associate in Arts degree curriculum is designed to provide students broad skills important for future success, including critical thinking, reading, reasoning and analysis, mathematics, and elementary foreign language skills. The curriculum enables students to explore the various traditional disciplines of the liberal arts. The Associate in Arts Program courses serve three purposes at once: The courses fulfill the requirements for the Associate in Arts degree, the courses fulfill the majority of the breadth requirements for the bachelor’s degree, and some courses serve as the entry-level courses for intended majors. The Associate in Arts degree requires the successful completion of 60 credit hours of approved academic work with a minimum grade point index of 2.0.

Dual Admissions Program: The UD Associate in Arts Program and The Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing

The UD Associate in Arts Program and Beebe Healthcare’s Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing in Lewes, Del., partnered in 2017 to offer an exciting joint education program.

This three-year program offers students the chance to simultaneously earn an Associate in Arts degree from UD and a diploma in professional nursing from Rollins, which is the only hospital-based nursing program in Delaware. Ultimately, students can go on to earn their baccalaureate degree.

New high school graduates may be eligible for Student Excellence Equals Degree (SEED) funding during the first year of the program. To qualify for admission, students must have graduated from high school with a minimum grade point average of 2.75 and earned grades of at least B- in biology and chemistry. Other forms of financial aid and scholarships are available for students not eligible for SEED.

For more information, visit: https://www.aap.udel.edu/beebe/about.

Continuing Toward The Bachelor’s Degree In Newark

Associate in Arts Program students who complete the required courses for the Associate in Arts degree with a minimum GPA of 2.0 are guaranteed the opportunity to study toward a bachelor’s degree at the University’s campus in Newark, and may choose from any of the 150+ undergraduate majors and 100 minors that are offered. A formal transfer of credit application is not required for Associate in Arts degree recipients-they are already UD students and need merely to submit an internal change of major form.

Students are considered “undeclared” while in the Associate in Arts Program and will be able to officially declare a major in their last semester of associate-degree study. While in the AAP, students can select a specific Interest Area based upon their intended major. Students may choose one of eight Interest Areas upon which to focus their beginning course work:

Arts & Humanities

Business-Related

Elementary & Early Childhood Education

Environmental Studies

Life & Health Sciences

Physical & Applied Sciences

Social Sciences

University Studies (undeclared)

The actual process of adding the bachelor’s degree major depends on the major. Many majors can be completed in just two years upon relocation to Newark, while others will take longer based on necessary course sequencing. These majors can be declared as long as the student meets the minimum requirements, generally a 2.0 grade point average. Still other majors are selective and use a competitive admissions process. Associate in Arts Program graduates compete for seats in these majors on equal footing with students from the Newark campus. Some majors may have course prerequisites for entry or require a specific grade point average, portfolio, or audition. More information about majors and major restrictions is available from the Registrar’s Office.

Students admitted to the Associate in Arts Program are required to complete the entire two-year, 60-credit sequence before moving to Newark to complete a bachelor’s degree. Students are expected to work closely with their advisor each semester in order to complete the program in a timely manner and to prepare for their intended bachelor’s degree program.

Associate in Arts Requirements