General Occupational and Technical Studies (AAS)

Program Description

The Associate in Applied Sciences in General Occupational and Technical Studies degree (GOTS) offers a flexible alternative for students to demonstrate occupational and technical competency.

Students can include credit earned in course, certificate completions, and/or credit for prior learning hours toward the AAS in General Occupational and Technical Studies. For inclusion in the degree, these hours must be part of an educational plan of study as determined in consultation with an occupational and technical advisor.

  1. The GOTS degree must complete the minimum credits designated (63 credits) with a “C” (2.0) or above average for all college work attempted. Courses below 100 level may not be applied toward the GOTS degree. Overall, the degree will balance a core of occupational and/or technical skills with a minimum of 15 credit hours of general education courses.
  2. General education course requirements for the GOTS degree are the following:
    1. One course from Communications Group (three hours minimum)
    2. One course from the Mathematics and Computer Science group (minimum of three hours)
    3. The remaining general education courses are to be taken from any of the six categories (Communications, Humanities, Social Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Sciences, Science, and Non-Western/International Studies) so that three of the six categories are used to satisfy the general education component.
  3. The student must complete 10 credits of college course work at Black Hawk College, but this does not have to be the last 10 hours of degree work. No credit earned through national testing programs or college proficiency examinations may be included within this 10-hour requirement.
  4. The student may earn up to a maximum of 48 credit hours for the GOTS degree through the combination of a variety of college-approved prior learning options that correlate with occupational courses and/or certificates offered at Black Hawk College.

Students should enter Black Hawk College in the GOTS degree if they plan to later apply to these programs, which have selective admission requirements:

  • Practical Nursing Certificate
  • AAS/Associate Degree Nursing
  • AAS/Physical Therapist Assistant
  • AAS/Surgical Technology
  • AAS/Veterinary Technology

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Suggested Courses

General Education Core

Communications Choice (3) (minimum)
Math and Computer Science Choice (3) (minimum)
Other General Education Choices (9) (minimum)
Total (15)


Occupational and Technical Studies Core

Additional electives may be chosen from any BHC occupational and technical courses and/or certificates (48) (minimum)
Total (63) (minimum)

Minimum total hours required for degree: 63