Human Services

Prepares students for a variety of mid-level positions within the field of human services that are focused on helping others gain the skills to help themselves.

Students will participate in both classroom instruction and a community-based internship experience with a local human services provider. Students interning at these agencies serve a variety of populations, including mentally ill and/or developmentally disabled, seniors, persons living with HIV/AIDS, homeless, corrections, juveniles at risk, foster families, persons with substance abuse issues, and numerous other specialty areas.

Students are responsible for choosing their own internship placement and are primarily eligible for employment in the area in which they choose and complete their internship experience.

This accelerated associate degree program can be completed in as few as four quarters, but may take up to seven quarters in length, depending on the time students need to satisfactorily complete all graduation requirements. For an AAT or AAS-T degree, students must complete one of the following specialty options:  1) Human Services Generalist, or 2) Human Services Chemical Dependency. The Human Services Generalist option can be completed in four quarters, while the Human Services Chemical Dependency option will require a minimum of six quarters of attendance.

Students attend courses on the main campus in Lakewood as well as at community-based internship sites throughout the program. Students receiving a C- or below must repeat the class in order to satisfy the Human Services program requirements for graduation.

In addition to the program course requirements, students must also complete the general education requirements for the degree they seek to obtain. The two degree options in this program are the Associate of Applied Technology (AAT) or the Associate of Applied Science–T (AAS-T). The different requirements for each degree are listed below:

AAT Degree General Education Requirements (20 credits):

1. ENGL& 101 English Composition
2. CMST& 220 Public Speaking
3. MAT 107 Business Mathematics
4. PSYC& 100 General Psychology

AAS-T Degree General Education Requirements (25 credits): 

All AAS-T degrees must have a minimum of 20 credits of transferable general education. These credits replace the academic courses required for the AAT degree. Required credits include:

1. 5 credits in Communication: ENGL& 101
2. 5 credits in quantitative reasoning: MATH 110, MATH& 141, MATH& 142, MATH& 146 or MATH& 151
3. 10 credits in social science, humanities, or science (choose two from the following): PSYC& 100, PSYC& 200, PSY 210, PSYC& 220, SOC& 101, ART& 100, MUS& 105, ASL& 121, BIOL 118, BIOL& 241, BIOL& 242, CHEM& 121, CHEM& 110, GEOL& 110, PHYS& 121, ECON 101, ECON& 201, or ECON& 202
4. CMST& 220 Public Speaking
   

Students pursuing an AAT or AAS-T degree must complete all college degree requirements prior to graduation. This includes courses that meet the capstone project, diversity, and computer literacy requirements.

Prerequisites: Students must attend a mandatory orientation/advising meeting with the Instructors. Must be a High School graduate or have a GED to enter the program. Students must consent to and receive a “No Record on File” report related to Crimes Against Persons. Students must have an internship site secured no later than the third day of the quarter for the Internship I, II and III courses.

Admission Dates: Fall and Spring quarters

Program Requirements

Program Option Requirements

In addition to the core classes listed above, students in the Human Services program are required to complete one of the specialty options listed below.

Option 1: Human Services Generalist

Option 2: Human Services Chemical Dependency

Approved Human Services Electives

To review course descriptions, please click here.