(a) An academic associate degree may be called an associate of arts (AA), an associate of science (AS), or an associate of arts in teaching (AAT) degree.
  (1) The AA is the default title for an academic associate degree program if the college offers only one type of academic degree program.
  (2) If a college offers both AA and AS degrees, the degree programs may be differentiated in one of two ways, including:
    (A) The AA program may have additional requirements in the liberal arts and/or the AS may have additional requirements in disciplines such as science, mathematics, or computer science; or
    (B) The AA program may serve as a foundation for the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree and the AS for the Bachelor of Science (BS) degree.
  (3) Each academic associate degree must provide a clearly articulated curriculum that can be associated with a discipline or field of study leading to a baccalaureate degree, and must be identified as such in the institution's Program Inventory.
  (4) The AAT is a specialized academic associate degree program designed to transfer in its entirety to a baccalaureate program that leads to initial Texas teacher certification. This title should only be used for an associate degree program that consists of a Board-approved AAT curriculum. or an Education Field of Study curriculum as defined in §4.32 of this title (relating to Field of Study Curricula).
(b) Except as provided in paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this subsection, academic associate degree programs must incorporate the institution's approved core curriculum as prescribed by §4.28 of this title (relating to Core Curriculum) and §4.29 of this title (relating to Core Curricula Larger than 42 SCH).
  (1) An institution may offer a specialized academic associate degree that incorporates a Board-approved field of study curriculum as prescribed by §4.32 of this title (relating to Field of Study Curricula) and a portion of the college's approved core curriculum if the coursework for both would total more than 60 SCH.
  (2) An institution may offer a specialized academic associate degree that incorporates a voluntary statewide transfer compact and a portion of the college's approved core curriculum if the coursework for both would total more than 60 SCH.
  (3) An institution that has a signed articulation agreement with a Public University to transfer a specified curriculum may offer a specialized AA or AS (but not AAT) degree program that incorporates that curriculum.
  (4) An institution may offer an embedded associate degree as outlined in §2.58 of this subchapter that does not include the full 42 SCH required core curriculum except for a Multidisciplinary studies degree as required by §2.57(b) of this subchapter.

Source Note: The provisions of this §2.53 adopted to be effective February 17, 2023, 48 TexReg 664