Academics
Bachelor’s Degree
Academics
Jumpstart your career
There is no substitute for a bachelor’s degree to improve your prospects for career advancement and a higher salary. SCF offers the same affordability, flexibility and convenience to the four-year degree process as its associate degree programs. These programs are designed for students with an associate degree or equivalent credits, often allowing for completion within 18-24 months.*
Learn more about these exciting programs:
*Depending on course load and prerequisite completion.
Applying for Baccalaureate Admission:
Our bachelor’s degree programs are designed for students with an associate degree or at least 60 equivalent college credits. With your prior credits accepted, time to completion is shorter, usually 18-24 months, depending on your course load and required prerequisites.
All of our bachelor’s degrees include online classes, with some offering a combination of online and in-person learning.
Graduation Requirements for Bachelor’s Degrees
The following general requirements for graduation from SCF must be met by all candidates for the Bachelor of Applied Science and Bachelor of Science degrees. Additional requirements may exist for individual programs.
- Students must satisfactorily complete 120 credit hours. For residency purposes, a minimum of 30 credit hours required for graduation must be completed at SCF. All other specific degree requirements also must be met. Developmental education (formerly college preparatory) instruction may not be counted toward fulfilling the total number of credit hours required for residency purposes or graduation.
- For purposes of conferring the bachelor’s degree, students must complete at least 30 credit hours of courses numbered 3000 level or above. Of these, at least 15 credit hours must be taken at SCF.
- Students must achieve a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher on a 4 .0 scale for all work completed at SCF and a 2.0 grade point average or higher for combined coursework with SCF that includes all transferable credits.
- Students must earn a grade of C or better in all upper division program requirements.
- Students must complete the general education requirements (36 credit hours) as defined in the Associate in Arts degree. Students who transfer to SCF with either an Associate in Arts degree or a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution are considered to have met the general education component of the degree. Courses will be reviewed for equivalency for students who transfer without an Associate in Arts or bachelor’s degree.
- Students must have completed Florida’s foreign language requirement prior to the completion of the bachelor’s degree. Students may meet this competency by: A) successful completion of two years (four semesters) of the same foreign language officially documented on a high school transcript; or B) successful completion (grade C or better) of two semesters of the same foreign language at a college or university officially documented on a college/university transcript; or C) education completed outside the United States as documented on an official foreign high school transcript that reflects a primary language other than English; D) or Successful completion of two foreign language equivalents through Advanced Placement (AP), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), or UEXCEL exams. One or more of these exams can be in combination with successful completion of college/university credit in the same foreign language subject area. Official transcripts from a high school, college and/or university and/or official examination results must be submitted to the educational records office.
- For students wishing to pursue another bachelor’s degree, the student must complete a minimum of 15 additional credit hours beyond the first bachelor’s degree as well as any other degree requirements and graduation requirements listed above for the second program.
SCF reserves the right to make changes in the regulations, offerings, requirements and any provisions announced in this Catalog at any time as circumstances require.
Bachelor’s Degree FAQ
Overall, it may take about 18 months to two years. First, the approval process for the State of Florida must be followed. Once the State Board of Education renders its approval, a separate application must be submitted to SACS. The program can then begin after all approvals are received.
The prerequisites vary for each program. It is best to check the individual program Web page for details on any prerequisite.
All of our bachelor’s degrees include online classes, with some offering a combination of online and in-person learning.
Holding a bachelors degree from a regionally accredited college/university means all general education requirements are met. The program prerequisites will still need to be taken, however, if they were not part of your prior bachelor’s program.
Students must have completed Florida’s foreign language requirement prior to the completion of the bachelor’s degree. This can be met several ways, but normally is two semesters of a sequential language in college, or two years of sequential credit in high school. Grades in each course must be D or higher. For full details, consult the SCF Catalog.
No, the international/intercultural requirement only applies to the A.A. degree.
Current State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota fees for upper division courses are approximately $10 more per credit hour than lower division fees for instate residents.
Applications are being accepted for all programs. Program applications are available on their respective program Web pages.
No. Since the spring term is under the same Catalog as the fall term, student can just register for classes in the spring.
The B.S. or B.A.S. student is eligible for all our scholarships and financial aid unless the award calls for a student in an associate degree program. At this time, however, the employee scholarship at State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (for college employees) does not apply to upper division courses.
The current legislation only allows state colleges (such as State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota) to offer workforce preparation degrees that demonstrate community need and support. This does not mean that future legislation might change, but we do not see any change coming in the near term.
In most cases, students with A.A.S. will need to take additional general education courses.
The completion of the general education courses would not need to be completed prior to enrolling in upper division and can be taken along with upper division classes. Thus, completion of the 36 general education hours would have to be completed in order for graduation from baccalaureate program.
Some Veterans (and certain spouses and dependents) may be eligible for VA educational benefits. Information regarding those benefits is located on the Veteran Students web pages. In addition, there is a common misconception by some Veterans that they are not eligible to receive financial aid in addition to their VA educational benefits. We encourage all to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application as well as apply for scholarships.
Contact the program director about available teaching positions. Position advertisements will be posted on the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota website. Please check the website employment page periodically for opportunities.