AA/AS Degrees and Certificates

Learn about our DVC Graduation Ceremony.

DVC issues Associate of Arts and of Science Degrees as well as Certificates of Accomplishment and Achievement in a variety of majors and subjects. All degrees and certificates are listed online, in the schedule of classes and in the catalog under each subject.

The petitions for an AA/AS degree and for a certificate are online and available in the Admissions and Records office. Students should submit their petition by the deadline date during the semester in which s/he plans to complete the requirements. Degrees and Certificates are accepted on a semester basis. 

Students are expected to pay their registration fees and all other financial debts at the time of registration. Students who owe enrollment fees or other debts will not be permitted to register for classes and will not receive a diploma until their debts have been paid.

If coursework from other schools and colleges is being used, official transcripts must be on file, or submitted with the degree/certificate petition. If a student is registered in courses at another school that last term, a schedule printout from that school should be attached to the petition.

Degree petitions are evaluated throughout the semester in roughly the order they were received. Once final grades have been received from instructors, petitions are reviewed again and finalized. Transcripts will be posted with degree information, and diplomas will be mailed 10 weeks after the conclusion of the semester.

Admissions and Records highly recommends that students visit a counselor prior to submitting a degree petition to ensure that all requirements have been met or are in-progress.

Early graduation for priority registration

In order to give students who are close to graduation an advantage in registering for the remaining classes needed in their last semester, students may apply for an early registration appointment by submitting an early petition to graduate in the semester before their planned graduation date.

  • Forms are accepted for Spring graduation: August 1- September 15 
  • Forms are accepted for Summer graduation: January 15- February 28
  • Forms are accepted for Fall graduation: March 1- April 15

Criteria to qualify for the early registration option

  • Must be currently enrolled in a minimum of 12 units in the district for an AA/AS or 3 units for a certificate of achievement
  • Have completed 30 units in the district or at a regionally accredited institution for an AA/AS or 9 units for a certificate of achievement prior to the date of petition
  • Must currently have a 2.0 GPA
  • Have official transcripts on file if attended other institutions
  • No late petitions will be accepted
  • The early registration appointment can only be utilized one time per student

Continuous enrollment and catalog rights

 Students must maintain continuous enrollment in order to keep their catalog rights. Continuous enrollment is defined as enrollment in at least one course within the district in an academic year (fall-spring-summer). The student must receive a grade or notation on their transcript of “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, “F”, “P”, “NP”, “I” or “W” for the course. This continuous enrollment policy applies to new, returning or continuing students. If a student breaks continuous enrollment, s/he will be granted catalog rights to the catalog in effect when s/he re-enrolls or applies for a degree or certificate.

General Education requirements

 All AA/AS degrees offered by DVC must have one of the three GE options completed.

  • Option 1 – DVC General Education Pattern
  • Option 2 – IGETC transfer curriculum
  • Option 3 – CSUGE transfer pattern

Please review the catalog for a full list of requirements.

Course substitution

In certain cases, students working towards an associate degree or certificate may want to use courses other than what are listed as requirements towards the degree or certificate. This usually occurs when:

  • a similar course was taken at another school
  • a required course is not made reasonably available

A substitution form may be submitted to the Admissions and Records Office. Official transcripts should be submitted, if not already on file, along with course descriptions if coursework from another school is being used.

Admissions and Records will collect these documents and forward them to the appropriate department for a decision. After a decision is made, the form will be returned to the Admissions and Records Office. The form will be kept in the students records, and a copy will be mailed to the student for their records. Completed substitution forms should be received in Admissions and Records no later than the last day of classes of the semester the student is applying for graduation.

While requirements may be substituted, no requirements may be waived.

Course substitutions for students with disabilities

On occasion, students are unable to complete a course required of DVC’s associate degree or certificate programs. Those wishing to apply for a course substitution should review the college’s complete course substitution policy, which is available in the DSS Office.

Graduation

Graduation ceremonies are held once per academic year in May. All graduates from that academic year are eligible to participate in the ceremony. Invitation letters, which include graduation information go out from the President’s Office in early May.

Students who have applied for a degree, and are found to be lacking no more than two courses towards completion may still petition to participate in the graduation ceremony. These petition forms are available at the Counseling office and on their website. However, the student’s name will not appear on the graduation program, and the student must submit another petition for a degree the following semester after the missing courses have been registered.

Duplicate diplomas

DVC only issues one diploma per degree. We will only replace a diploma that has been lost or destroyed. There is a $20 duplicate diploma fee, and a duplicate diploma request form is available in the Admissions and Records Office.