Associate Degree in Information Sciences and Technology — 60 credits

An associate degree in information sciences and technology can boost your earning potential. Broaden your career opportunities beyond a high school diploma. And help you gain an edge in almost any field.

Offered in partnership with Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology, this degree is ideal for working adults who seek careers in technology management, but have little or no formal background in information technology (IT).

Career Opportunities
Developed in consultation with regional Pennsylvania employers, our IST program can prepare you to enter IT professional fields such as:

• applications programmers
• network managers
• Web designers
• information systems support specialists

What You Can Learn
An associate degree in IST can provide you with:

• a thorough knowledge of information systems, with organizational and global perspectives
• extensive practice using contemporary technologies to create, organize, store, analyze, evaluate, communicate, and transmit information
• skills in essential communications as well as interpersonal and group interaction
• basic business skills to prepare you for managerial roles and greater responsibilities
• technical knowledge about the structure of database systems, Web and multimedia systems, and the design of information systems
• hands-on knowledge gained through team projects, a required internship, and a capstone experience focused on cutting-edge issues and technologies in the field

Admission Requirements

• You must be a high school graduate.
• Or you must have completed your GED. 

Program Curriculum

General Education (21 credits)

(Of these 21 credits, 9 to 12 are included in the requirements for the major.)

Electives (2–6 credits)

Common Requirements for the Major (30 credits) 

Additional Course Requirements for the Generalized Business Option (15–16 credits)
(Select 15 to 16 credits from the following list, in consultation with an adviser.)

• ACCTG 211 Financial and Managerial Accounting for Decision Making (4 credits)
• ENGL 202C (GWS) Effective Writing: Technical Writing (3 credits) or ENGL 202D (GWS) Effective Writing: Business   Writing (3 credits)
• IST 295A Distributed Team Project or IST 295B IST Internship (1–3 credits)
• B A 250 Problems of Small Business (3 credits)
• ECON 002 (GS) Introductory Microeconomic Analysis and Policy (3 credits) or ECON 004 (GS) Introductory Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy (3 credits)
• MATH 017 (GQ) Finite Mathematics (3 credits)
• MATH 021 (GQ) College Algebra I (3 credits)
• MATH 022 (GQ) College Algebra II and Analytic Geometry (3 credits) or MATH 026 (GQ) Plane Trigonometry (3 credits)
• MGMT 100W Survey of Management (3 credits)
• MGMT 321 Leadership and Motivation (3 credits)
• MGMT 341 Human Resource Management (3 credits)
• MKTG 220 Personal Selling (3 credits)
• MKTG 221W Contemporary American Marketing (3 credits)
• Additional Courses (4 credits)

Additional Course Requirements for the Individualized option with Web Programming theme track (18 credits)

Prescribed Courses for the Web Programming option (12 credits required):

• CMPSC 097A Creating Web Pages w/HTML & JavaScript (3 credits)**
• IST 255  Fundamentals of Web Administration (3 credits)
• IST 256  Programming for the Web (3 credits)
• IST 297 Organization & Design of Information Systems (3 credits)

Additional Courses for the Web Programming option (choose 6 credits, from the following):

• 297X Introduction to Web Programming (3 credits)**
• 397X Intermediate Web Programming (3 credits)**
• 397X SQL Databases for the Web (3 credits)**
• IST 257  Advanced Web Administration (3 credits)

(** indicates courses required for completion of the Web Programming certificate)

Educational Step-up Opportunities
As you complete courses for the associate degree you can also earn a certificate in information sciences and technology and either a certificate in basic business or Web programming. After you receive your associate degree, you can continue on to earn a bachelor’s degree in IST through Penn State World Campus.