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WCC's Associate in Arts & Sciences transfer degree is referred to as a DTA degree (named after the statewide "direct transfer agreement"). The structure of DTA degrees was established collaboratively by the community colleges and universities in Washington state.

A DTA degree is similar to the slate of general education courses that universities require their own first- and second-year students to take. It is designed to introduce you to a wide variety of subject areas and methods, to help you integrate knowledge drawn from different areas, and to offer a general framework for understanding.

In addition, its flexibility gives you a chance to prepare for more study in your own field of interest.

A DTA degree prompts you to develop your academic abilities. After you complete an Associate in Arts & Sciences (AAS/DTA) transfer degree, you should be able to...

• Communicate: be able to share information in various mediums and contexts (e.g., printed text, videos, artwork, interpersonally, graphically, public speaking).
• Be information-literate: be able to discover information, identify how it is produced and valued, and use it ethically when creating new knowledge.
• Reason quantitatively: be able to use data and the mathematical analysis of data to make connections and draw conclusions.
• Practice social justice: be able to reflect on your intersecting identities and roles in society, identify patterns of individual and institutional injustice and their historical roots, and explain strategies for change.
• Think: be able to generate and evaluate knowledge, clarify concepts and ideas, seek possibilities, consider alternatives, and solve problems creatively and critically.

These core learning abilities (CLAs) are overarching skills that are taught and reinforced throughout degrees and certificates at WCC. CLAs define the skills the College expects its students to develop by the time they graduate.

All math courses have the quantitative reasoning CLA except MATH 207, which has the thinking CLA.

• have opportunities to share information with classmates,
• have the chance to formulate and respond to questions,
• learn to apply critical thinking, problem-solving, and quantitative reasoning skills to the study of material in the course,
• learn to use appropriate terminology and symbolic language (in written and/or verbal form).

Students taking math classes at Whatcom may expect any of the following methods of assessment: group and/or individual self-assessments, graded exercises, work at the board, critique by other students, class participation/discussion, homework, quizzes, unit tests, projects and final exams.