Pathways to Success

With an Associate in Arts degree from Northland, students acquire a solid foundation in the liberal arts with the ability to pursue in-depth study in their chosen fields. As a result, students become more flexible within any field of study because they can approach any discipline, reason out its process, and apply that process to the tasks that face them.

Liberal Arts & Transfer Program

The Liberal Arts and Transfer Program provides the first two years of most baccalaureate degrees and are designed for transfer to a four-year institution. Students who complete the Associate in Arts degree at Northland, which includes the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum, are assured of seamless transfer into Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, as well as into the University of Minnesota system, and usually are accepted into most out-of-state colleges including the University of North Dakota.

Pathways to the Associate of Arts Degree

Northland identifies three pathways to the Associate of Arts degree. These pathways are intended as guides to help students attain their goal of a Transfer Degree that meets their anticipated goals in attaining a baccalaureate degree at a four year institution.

Our Liberal Arts Program has a Three-Fold Purpose:

  • 1 It is designed to provide students with the coursework necessary for transfer to four-year institutions throughout the nation.
  • 2 It has at its basis the universal principle that the liberal arts teaches people how to think and, consequently, how to learn.
  • 3 It enables students to develop critical thinking skills that they can use to formulate their own ideas and, thus, become actively engaged in the learning process.

Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

The Minnesota Transfer Curriculum contains the minimum number of credits (40) needed to complete the general education requirements at all of the public colleges and universities in Minnesota. These 40 credits must be completed in 10 goal areas and with a minimum 2.0 GPA. Completion of a defined transfer curriculum at one institution enables a student to receive credit for all lower-division courses, upon admission to most other institutions. All of the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum courses, offered by Northland, will transfer within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and the University of Minnesota system, in the goal areas designated by Northland. The remaining 20 of the 60 credits of the Associate of Arts degree can allow a student to individualize their studies.

Please visit the Minnesota Transfer web site for more information about transfer in Minnesota.

General Education Philosphy

The purpose of General Education at Northland Community & Technical College is to establish a foundation of broad-based learning that exposes learners to a diversity of views and attitudes, which enhance the intellectual capacity to be active participants in a global, diverse society.

In addition to serving as part of an Associate of Arts degree, general education courses support technical programs in personal and professional development in the pursuit of life-long learning.