Associate in Arts - Liberal Arts - Arts and Letters Emphasis

at De Anza College USA

Designed primarily for students who plan on transferring to the University of California or California State University, the associate degree in Liberal Arts represents the completion of a broad area of study with an emphasis in one of the following four areas: Arts and Letters, Business and Computer Information Systems, Science, Math and Engineering and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The degree allows the student to develop a broad set of essential life/work competencies such as: communication, critical thinking, problem solving, quantitative reasoning and multicultural skills.

Our department mission is to inspire, excite and prepare our automotive technology students to achieve a valuable place in our local and global community.

We serve a diverse student population – including career-oriented students, lifelong learners and those who choose our program to enrich their own knowledge base.

Our focus is on integrity, personal achievement, service to our community and excellence in all we do.

The A.A. degree in Private Security provides the foundational education required for an individual's career pathway into the private security field. The courses range from the concepts of criminal law, evidence, investigations and reporting to patrol procedures and criminology.

The program has a proud history: It has been offered at the college since De Anza was established in 1967. Today, our classes cover the latest advancements in methodology and technology.

Our instructors have extensive professional experience as judges, police officers, correction and probation officers as well as attorneys. Our graduates are working for public and private agencies throughout the Bay Area and beyond.

Our department mission is to inspire, excite and prepare our automotive technology students to achieve a valuable place in our local and global community.

We serve a diverse student population – including career-oriented students, lifelong learners and those who choose our program to enrich their own knowledge base.

Our focus is on integrity, personal achievement, service to our community and excellence in all we do.

The Business Programming A.A. degree program creates a programming savvy entrepreneur who can make decisions about finances and technology, and who understands how to run an enterprise from both the technology and business perspectives. This program teaches skills combined from business and programming that enable a more in-depth view into the technology necessary to run a business in the 21st century.

De Anza's Computer Information Systems (CIS) department has been a leading educational institution in Silicon Valley since the college was founded. Over the years it has developed a rich and diverse series of courses in many areas. Our courses meet the needs of both the transfer student and the industry professional. Students who take courses and earn degrees in the CIS department often go on to transfer to four-year universities in majors such as Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science and many other majors that required CIS courses.

The CNC Machinist Certificate of A.S. degree teaches students the fundamentals of CNC machine tools. Students learn safe set-up, editing and operation of CNC equipment, including vertical and horizontal mills, lathes and rotary multi-axis components. Students are taught to dimension and inspect parts using various inspection methods, and to analyze materials and processes used in manufacturing. Upon completion, students are prepared for employment in manufacturing facilities as CNC set-up persons and machine operators.

De Anza's Machining and CNC programs have been preparing students for highly paid, highly skilled work in Silicon Valley since 1967.

We can help you meet your goals, whether that means preparing for your first career, changing your occupation, upgrading your skills or expanding your abilities as a hobbyist.

The Journalism Department supports De Anza's core competencies in the following ways:

• Communication and expression: Students learn new rhetorical strategies and use their First Amendment rights to create and publish La Voz News, social media (@lavozdeanza) and videos.
• Information literacy: Students study and practice media literacy.
• Physical/mental wellness and personal responsibility: Students work cooperatively under deadline situations and take on leadership roles in a structured environment that prepares them for many media workplaces.
• Civic capacity for global, cultural, social and environmental justice: Students learn to: a) tell stories that show the diversity of De Anza College and the world, b) interpret cultural and environmental issues and c) present their ideas clearly.
• Critical thinking: Students analyze ideas, create and test models, solve problems and evaluate alternatives as they work hands-on to produce print, digital and video content.

Designed primarily for students who plan on transferring to the University of California or California State University, the associate degree in Liberal Arts represents the completion of a broad area of study with an emphasis in one of the following four areas: Arts and Letters, Business and Computer Information Systems, Science, Math and Engineering and Social and Behavioral Sciences. The degree allows the student to develop a broad set of essential life/work competencies such as: communication, critical thinking, problem solving, quantitative reasoning and multicultural skills.

The Music Department offers a wide variety of courses to satisfy the diverse interests and needs of its students.  The department serves music majors as well as the general student population.  All students benefit from the Music Appreciation courses for both work towards a music degree and GE transfer.

All students may join a number of high quality performance ensembles, such as Concert Band, Chamber Orchestra, Chorale (large chorus) and Vintage Singers (chamber chorus). 

This A.A. degree program provides a foundation in music for students interested in a career in the musical entertainment industry or pursuing a baccalaureate degree in Music. Students are encouraged to take private instruction (not provided by the college) each term along with classes in their specialization.

The English major at De Anza College offers students the opportunity to study language, literature, creative writing and composition and to deepen critical thinking, communication skills and aesthetic awareness. The English major also prepares students for further study leading to employment and internships in fields such as education, business, law, editing and writing. The program further prepares students to become effective communicators and broadly literate members of the community.

Language is one important means of expressing ideas, communicating them to others, and articulating them to oneself. Being able to use language in this way is a crucial part of being a citizen of a democratic society and a participant in the modern world.

Our goal in the English Department is to help students develop reading, writing, research and critical thinking skills that they may use in other classes at De Anza – as well as at four-year universities, in their careers and throughout their lives.