Boost Your Career by Building on Your AAS Degree
Do you have an Associate’s degree in Applied Science? Are you looking to accelerate your career and potentially earn almost $20,000 more annually? You can accomplish that and more by enrolling in the Bachelor of Applied Science degree program at the University of Michigan-Flint.
Normally, your educational prospects are capped when you earn an Associate in Applied Science degree. But UM-Flint’s innovative program lets you build on your existing technical education, allowing you to complete a bachelor’s degree in as little as two years.
Our flexible applied science program lets you create an educational experience that fits your interests and needs. No matter what path you choose, be assured you will be strengthening your job skills in critical areas like:
- Expressing yourself orally and in writing
- Thinking critically and analytically
- Discovering creative solutions to problems
- Building strong, respectful relationships with colleagues
- Learning on the job and throughout life
You benefit from our small classes and expert faculty. They’re scholars who are engaged in research, but they work here because they love teaching and helping students like you succeed.
This program can easily be completed fully online, with degree focuses in exciting and in-demand content areas like:
- Early Childhood Studies
- General Business
- Healthcare Administration
- Marketing
- Psychology
- …and more!
Progressing from an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree can boost your income and your employment prospects, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- Median weekly earnings with an associate degree: $963 ($50,076 annually)
- Median weekly earnings with a bachelor’s degree: $1,334 ($69,368 annually).
That’s a huge difference: $371 per week or $19,292 annually with a bachelor’s degree. As a bonus, your risk of becoming unemployed plunges with a bachelor’s degree.
How the Program Works
To be admitted, you must have an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree or a similar degree such as an Associate in Applied Arts and Sciences (AAAS). Your degree can be in areas such as business, construction, foods, graphic design, health, industrial management, and mechanical and electronic technology.
Working with your academic advisor, you choose one of two degree focus options:
- Complete a minor along with your degree. You can choose any minor we offer, including a large selection that can be completed fully online.
- Complete 15 credits in each of two disciplines of your choice from any we offer. A discipline is noted by a three-letter course prefix such as BIO for biology and COM for communications. At least nine credits must be in courses numbered 300 or above, with at least three in each discipline.
While completing at least 124 credits for your degree, you also must meet all of UM-Flint’s graduation requirements:
- Fulfill the general education requirements.
- Maintain a cumulative grade average of C (2.0) or better in your program and in all of your courses at UM-Flint.
- Take at least 30 credits at UM-Flint, including your last 30 credits.
- Take at least 33 credits in courses numbered 300 and higher, including at least 30 credits at UM-Flint.
- Take two BAS specific courses as part of your degree program.
- Take no more than 30 credits in business courses, including both transfer credits and credits earned at UM-Flint. The exception is students with an AAS or similar degree in a business area, who can transfer more than 30 business credits but then can’t apply any UM-Flint business credits to their program. Students who wish to take more business courses should apply to the Bachelor of Business Administration in General Business program.
“I can’t even put into words how grateful I am. I felt like I hit a gold mine with UM-Flint.” Tina Jordan completed her Bachelor of Applied Science degree online in 2019, 16 years after first starting college. Read her story.
Tina Jordan
Applied Science 2019
To simplify the process of transferring your credits, UM-Flint has articulation agreements with more than a dozen community colleges. Some of them include:
- Lansing Community College
- Mid Michigan College
- Mott Community College
- Oakland Community College
- St. Clair County Community College
- Washtenaw Community College
- Wayne County Community College
Please note that credits for technical courses you transfer to UM-Flint only apply to the Bachelor of Applied Science degree. You cannot use them for any other UM-Flint degree.
Academic Advising for Applied Science Majors
With so many educational opportunities and career paths available to our applied science majors, we strongly encourage you to meet regularly with your academic advisor. Our advisors can help you choose classes, navigate program requirements, overcome personal issues, explore career options, and more.
Megan Presland is the dedicated advisor for applied science. You can contact her at [email protected] or book an appointment here.
Career Opportunities in Applied Science
Your bachelor’s degree from UM-Flint will open the door to a wide variety of career options.
Students with BAS degrees have gone on to utilize the degree in a variety of strategic ways including:
- Role changes within similar career paths
- Example: moving from an AAS in Surgical Technology to a healthcare administrative role with a BAS degree
- Career changes & pivots
- Example: changing from an IT technician role to a Marketing career with a BAS degree
- Job advancement: earning a BAS degree to achieve promotions in their current workplace
- Example: turning an AAS in Criminal Justice into a BAS degree to achieve a pay raise in an existing law enforcement career
- Returning to school in order to pursue a professional degree
- Example: turning an AAS in Physical Therapy Assistant to a BAS degree into a Physical Therapy doctorate degree
Consider these projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the top jobs for Bachelor of Applied Science graduates:
Medical & Health Services Managers
- Job growth through 2032: 28 percent
- Job openings annually through 2032:144,700
- Typical entry-level education required: Bachelor’s degree
- Median annual salary: $104,830
Administrative Services Manager
- Job growth through 2032: 5 percent
- Job openings annually through 2032: 19,900
- Typical entry-level education required: Bachelor’s degree
- Median annual salary: $101,870
- Job growth through 2032: 32 percent
- Job openings annually through 2032: 53,200
- Typical entry-level education required: Bachelor’s degree
- Median annual salary: $112,000
- Job growth through 2032: 5 percent
- Job openings annually through 2032: 22,900
- Typical entry-level education required: Bachelor’s degree
- Median annual salary: $101,480
- Job growth through 2031: 7 percent
- Job openings annually through 2031: 20,980
- Typical entry-level education required: Bachelor’s degree
- Median annual salary: $97,970
- Job growth through 2032: 25 percent
- Job openings annually through 2032: 451,200
- Typical entry-level education required: Bachelor’s degree
- Median annual salary: $124,200
Start Accelerating Your Career Today
If you want a degree that builds on your existing education while helping boost your career to new heights, apply to UM-Flint’s Bachelor of Applied Science program today. If you have questions, you can contact the program manager, Megan Presland, at [email protected] or book an appointment here.