Adult Degree Completion (ADC) Programs (BA)

Dominican University of California’s Adult Degree Completion Program (ADC) is designed so adults may complete an undergraduate degree while continuing with fulfill career and family responsibilities. The mission of the ADC Program is to meet the higher educational needs of adult learners through a range of degree programs and support services which embrace the experience of adults returning to the university classroom, making the learning process transformational. Degree programs are interdisciplinary, multicultural, and global in focus. The curriculum integrates theory and practice, is outcome-based, and incorporates experiential, interactive, and collaborative learning components.

This how the program is constructed:

Students transfer units to Dominican University of California (maximum of 76 lower division and unlimited number of upper division units. Students must earn their units in the major at Dominican. Remaining general education and elective units needed to complete the 124 unit bachelor’s degree may be completed through the Dominican Experiential Learning Program, several Unsponsored Learning options, and accelerated evening and weekend courses offered by Dominican. A maximum of 12 units may be transferred after a student has matriculated at Dominican.

All ADC courses are accelerated and meet on Monday through Thursday weekday evenings and/or on Saturdays. Some ADC majors offer their courses over a full semester and others offer two consecutive 7-week courses

ADC students may choose from a menu list of courses each semester, including Summer Session, and enroll either part-time or full-time, and those with considerable discretionary time, may take a full-time course load of 12 or more semester units. ADC students are permitted to take some of their required elective units in Undergraduate Day Program courses, on a space available basis
Courses in one’s chosen major are offered on different nights than the General Education courses, allowing students who have discretionary time to take both major and GE courses simultaneously.

An ADC student must complete all degree requirements including electives, General Education, and major requirements to earn the bachelor’s degree. As with many of the courses in the majors, General Education courses are also offered in a hybrid format when possible.

ADC Program Majors

ADC students must declare an intended major when they apply for admission. To change a major, students submit a Declaration of Major form, with all required signatures, to the Registrar’s Office. Admission to the ADC program requires that students have a minimum of 6 years life experience since completing high school, and a minimum or 30 college level credits. Bachelor of Arts degrees in the ADC Program are offered in the following majors:

Literary and Intercultural Studies
Leadership and Management
Leadership and Management BA to MBA (4+1)
Psychology

ADC major courses in particular program are offered year round on a rotating basis.

ADC Program Minors

Students in the ADC Program may expand their educational experience with a minor in one of the following areas:

English Literature
Humanities and Cultural Studies
Leadership Studies
Psychology

Some minors in the Undergraduate Day Program may also be an option for ADC Program students, provided that there is space in courses in which students have interest, the student is available to take the courses when scheduled, and is given approval by instructor and ADC major chair.

Initial Coursework

In the first semester of coursework at Dominican, students enroll in the required courses that assist them to strengthen the academic skills they will need to complete their degree programs. All first semester students will enroll in HCS 3160 Foundations: American Pluralism and ENGL 3442 Critical Inquiry and Reflective Writing.

These two courses fulfill two Dominican ADC General Education areas, while also preparing ADC students for the Experiential Learning Portfolio program, where students may submit their prepared essays written in these courses to earn additional college-level units from college level learning gained from their life experiences. Students who choose to enroll more than half time (i.e. more than two courses) may pursue their majors beginning in the first semester.

General Elective Units

Elective units may be earned in any discipline in the ADC curriculum. Elective units may also be earned through Prior Learning Assessment options, see below. ADC students may be permitted to take elective units in non-ADC undergraduate programs on a space available basis. ADC students may also take elective units for the BA degree if they are admitted to the 4+1 MBA program.

Prior Learning Assessment

The program offers a dynamic Experiential Learning two-course component. Students sequentially complete the Foundations in Adult Learning and the Critical Inquiry and Reflective Writing course, meeting in class one night a week in the first semester. These courses incorporate the Experiential Learning Portfolio where mid-career professionals may earn elective and general education college units by demonstrating university-level learning gained from personal and professional life experience.

Through Prior Learning Assessment, students can identify and validate their lifelong learning endeavors and earn college level units to be applied toward General Education and Elective units applied toward the Bachelor’s Degree. Prior Learning Assessment coordinates the University’s options for demonstrating learning that occurred outside the college classroom. These options include learning accomplished outside the traditional academic setting and demonstrated through the Experiential Learning Portfolio process. Additionally, Unsponsored Learning options may be utilized to complete remaining GE and elective courses through standardized examinations including Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), the Excelsior College Examination Program (formerly Regents PEP), DSST (formerly known as Dantes), and ACE/PONSI recommended course

See the Experiential Learning Portfolio section catalog for additional information.