Business (Applied) Associate of Science

This Pace+ Business (Applied) Associate of Science degree program leverages the existing business knowledge, skills, and abilities each student brings into the program as it prepares students to progress in their careers and educational paths. The pre-planned pathway of coursework and competencies builds on prior learning, ensuring students are best prepared to succeed as they move through the program. For students with work experience, this program will provide them with the knowledge and skills to move up the career ladder to a professional role or to progress further along a professional career path in a variety of roles.

Courses required for this degree build upon and upgrade skills in business functions, communication, business law, planning and organizing, and business communication. Coursework in this degree further emphasizes communication and technical skills, including commonly used workplace tools and applications. Coursework emphasizes embracing diversity within organizations and creating inclusive organizational cultures. Potential careers include Administrative Services Managers, Facilities Managers, General and Operations Managers, and Human Resources Assistants.

The existing Business AS degree has a history of 140 completions annually. Because this new Pace+ modality provides access to a population for whom a traditional online or in-person classroom setting does not meet their needs, we expect that a different population of learners will enroll in this degree program, so perhaps 30 to 50 completions.

“A primary mission of the California Community Colleges is to advance California’s economic growth and global competitiveness through education, training, and services that contribute to continuous workforce improvement.” (Ed Code 66010.4, item 3). This Business (Applied) Associate in Science supports this mission by assisting students to progress along a pathway into positions such as Administrative Services Managers, Facilities Managers, Human Resources Assistants, etc., or to progress along an existing business-related career path in any industry.

This Business (Applied) Associate in Science is taught in the direct assessment (DA), competency-based education (CBE) modality as part of the Coastline College Pace+ program. It will provide each learner with a survey of business and management functions. It also includes applied learning in the specific fields of business law, project management, and team/personnel management. Courses emphasize the language of business and the common processes and procedures used across industries. Coursework in this degree further emphasizes communication and technical skills, including commonly used workplace tools and applications. Competencies mastered in the program include: Business Thinking, Organization and Planning, Relationship Building, Presentation Skills, and Communicativeness.

A degree in Business signals to employers that recipients have obtained knowledge, have practiced skills, and demonstrated abilities in planning, organizing, improving processes, and communicating effectively within the company at large. There are projected to be 11,556 annual job openings in these business occupations just in Orange County, related to this degree (OC COE, “Business (Applied) Endorsement”, 2025). This sector ranks among the top seven (7) sectors in the region, and entry-level hourly wages are $38.79, well above the self-sufficiency wage of $27.13 for Orange County (OC COE, “Paving the Path to Opportunity”, 2025).

This DA CBE program builds on the learner’s pre-existing skills, knowledge, abilities, and competencies. For those who are currently working, this program will provide them with the knowledge and skills to move up the career ladder to a more professional role or to move to another role within a company.

Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes:

1. Develop and exhibit high standards of professional practice, demonstrating awareness of ethical and social responsibilities in today’s multicultural, team-oriented, rapidly changing global environment.
2. Analyze and recommend effective business decisions/solutions using a systematic, evaluative, and data-driven approach.
3. Effectively communicate solutions to business problems using appropriate business terms and strategies.
4. Formulate strategies that embrace diversity within organizations and create inclusive organizational cultures.

For the degree:

The college has licensed the Polaris® Leadership Model from Organization Systems International (OSI). A subset (16) of the 41 competencies in this model was selected as the basis for this direct assessment (DA), competency-based education (CBE) degree, as the degree supports early career employees. As the competencies were mapped to courses, a multi-disciplinary degree was developed. In response to employer and Advisory Board feedback, the program contains four (4) courses from the Communication Studies (CMST) discipline, three (3) from the Computer Information Systems (CIS) discipline, and eight (8) from the Business (BUS) and Management (MGMT) disciplines. Specific general education courses were selected to complement this general Business degree.

For the certificate:

The college has licensed the Polaris® Leadership Model from Organization Systems International (OSI). A subset (6) of the 41 competencies in this model was selected as the basis for this direct assessment (DA), competency-based education (CBE) certificate, to support early career employees. As the competencies were mapped to courses, a multi-disciplinary certificate was developed. In response to employer and Advisory Board feedback, the program contains a Communication Studies (CMST) course and a Computer Information Systems (CIS) course.

For the degree: 

For the certificate:

Before completing this section, review the college’s existing program inventory in the CCC Curriculum Inventory, then address the following questions:

• Do any active inventory records need to be made inactive or changed in connection with the approval of the proposed program? If yes, please specify.

No.

• Does the program replace any existing program(s) on the college’s inventory? Provide relevant details if this program is related to the termination or scaling down of another program(s).

No.

• What related programs are offered by the college?

Business pathways in the areas of general business, human resources, and marketing exist at the college. A Supply Chain Management pathway also exists at the college, but this degree is separate from these programs with different target jobs.

All other colleges in the county provide some form of management degree. Within the region, demand for middle-skill managers remains high as this broad degree supports a wide variety of management positions across many industries. However, Coastline College will be the only college in the region offering this Management (Applied) degree in a direct-assessment, CBE modality, therefore not competing with the online, hybrid, and in-person offerings of the degrees below:

These degrees are all very similar, which helps employers know that the same core set of business skills and exposure to communication studies and employment law are incorporated into the degree programs, giving the employer confidence that candidates with this degree are prepared to manage people as well as processes and tasks.

However, the Coastline Pace+ Business (Applied) AS is significantly differentiated from the other offerings in its direct assessment, CBE modality.

The existing degree has a history of 140 completions annually. Because this new Pace+ modality provides access to a population for whom a traditional online or in-person classroom setting does not meet their needs, we expect that a different population of learners will enroll in this degree program. Conservative estimates are 25 completers in the first few years of the program.