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Associate in Engineering

The Associate in Engineering (AE) degree shall be granted for a planned program of study consisting of a minimum of 60 semester hours of credit (SHC) of courses. Within the degree program, the institution shall include opportunities for the achievement of competence in reading, writing, oral communication, fundamental mathematical skills, and basic computer use. 
The degree plan includes required general education and prerequisite courses that are acceptable to all state-funded Bachelor of Engineering programs. Students who follow the degree progression plan will meet the entrance requirements at all of the North Carolina public Bachelor of Science Engineering programs. Associate in Engineering graduates may then apply to any of these programs without taking additional and sometimes duplicative courses. Admission to Engineering programs is highly competitive and admission is not guaranteed.
To be eligible for the transfer credit under the AE to the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Articulation Agreement, community college graduates must obtain a grade of “C” or better in each course and an overall GPA of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale. 
Note: Calculus I is the lowest level math course that will be accepted by the Engineering programs for transfer as a math credit. Students who are not calculus –ready will need to take additional math courses.

Beginning in Spring 2025, HCC's Associate in Engineering Program began partnering with Western Carolina University (WCU) to provide the Engineering Statics (EGR 220) course required for the degree. Students will be dually enrolled at HCC and WCU in the semester they take EGR 220. The WCU course will be taught by WCU engineering faculty at their Biltmore Park campus. This class will be on a WCU transcript and will be transferred to HCC to complete the Associate in Engineering degree at HCC. WCU is waiving many of their fees so the tuition for the course is equivalent to HCC's tuition for the class. Associate in Engineering students should speak to their faculty advisor for more information on this class.