The Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) is an interdisciplinary degree designed for students who have completed an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree and who would benefit from a Bachelor’s degree for career or personal advancement. The BAS gives students the unique opportunity to apply sixty of their technical AAS credits to an Indiana University bachelor’s degree. Since the credits accumulated in these types of programs do not readily transfer to traditional baccalaureate programs, the BAS degree was designed to provide students with an opportunity to advance their professional skills. The BAS is a very flexible degree. Every student could design his or her own program of study. Students will work closely with an academic advisor to select a set of classes that best fits his or her individual needs. Not only can students build a unique curriculum that aligns with his or her educational and career goals, but students can complete the degree while taking only classes on campus, taking only classes offered online, or any combination of the above.  The BAS degree is a joint degree program by all five IU-managed regional campuses. The joint degree format permits the campuses to share faculty resources and thereby provide educational opportunities to students in their regions that those students might not otherwise have. Students may take BAS courses from any of the five campuses and have those courses apply to their BAS degree at their home campus.

Admission

The Bachelor of Applied Science is a degree-completion program, and all incoming students must have an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree from a regionally accredited community college. This degree is not available for traditional freshmen. Please speak with an advisor if you have any questions.

Degrees Awarded with Distinction

The Bachelor of Applied Science Program recognizes outstanding performance in course work by awarding degrees with three levels of distinction: distinction, high distinction, and highest distinction. In order to graduate with distinction, students must have at least 60 graded IU credit hours towards the BAS degree. (Pass/fail and self-acquired competency credits and courses not applicable to the degree such as remedial courses are not counted in calculating the number of credit hours.) Courses with S grades (not self-acquired competency) are counted in these 60 hours.

The levels of distinction, which are printed on both the student’s transcript and the IU diploma, are determined by the overall cumulative grade point average of each graduating class and generally approximates the following GPAs:

• 3.50-3.74 distinction
• 3.75-3.89 high distinction
• 3.90-4.00 highest distinction

Required Areas of Study

The curriculum consists of 120 credit hours (60-64 of those are transferred in from an accredited community college). The courses are divided between four specific sets of courses:

• General education courses (can be taken at IU Northwest or transferred in)
• Applied science courses (transferred from an accredited community college)
• Required BAS Core Courses (18 credits from required competencies)
• Required track courses
• Electives

Currently, there are two available tracts: 1) Health Management and 2) Interdisciplinary. Using the Interdisciplinary Tract, you can create your own program designed to meet the goals of the individual student. In addition, several other tracts may be added. Please see a General Studies advisor (980-6828) for more information and for a complete curricular mapping of each concentration. Consult the website for program updates at www.iun.edu and search BAS Program.

Required Courses

Course requirements fall into five categories, and are defined by student learning outcomes.

1. General Education (varies by campus) 30 - 42 hours

Using the Statewide General Education Core as the basis, campuses will retain their own general education curriculum. Some campuses require more than the 30 hours in the SGEC.  However, many AAS degree-holders will have earned 9 – 15 credit hours in general education as part of their AAS degree, and those courses are expected to count toward the general education requirements of each campus.

2. Applied Science Courses (transferred in from an AAS degree) 48 - 51 hours
3. BAS Core (required) 18 hours

Students take courses that meet the following learning outcomes:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in accounting and bookkeeping.
2. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in economics.
3. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in legal, ethical, social, and/or international topics.
4. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in supervision.
5. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in marketing.
6. Demonstrate knowledge and skills in communication.

4. BAS Track (one required) 12 hours

Students must select either the Health Care Management track, the Sustainability track or the Individualized track.

The Health Care Management track is designed to appeal to individuals who hold an AAS degree in one of the many health care fields (such as Medical Assisting, Health Care Support, Paramedic Science, and Medical Laboratory Technology).

In this track, students take courses that meet the following learning outcomes:

1. Compare and contrast the U.S. health-care system, including reimbursement, with other systems around the world.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the ethical, legal, financial, and political factors that influence the provision of health services in the U.S.
3. Evaluate access to and cost of US health care, including reimbursement practices, for different types of care.
4. Effectively assess and implement improvements in clinical care, customer service, and human resource planning in a health care setting.
5. (Capstone) Integrate knowledge and skills and apply to health management issues or challenges.

The Sustainability Studies track has the following learning outcomes:

1. Students will describe how environment, society, and economy are interrelated and impact each other.
2. Students will articulate how their educational experiences applies to work and career choices.
3. Students will apply principles of sustainability to innovatively solve problems and implement sustainable practices.

The Individualized track is a highly flexible track designed to meet the needs of many different AAS degree holders. For example, a student with an AAS in Criminal Justice who wants to advance his or her career in criminal justice might design a track to include upper-division courses in Criminal Justice, Public Affairs, or (if he or she works with youth offenders and their families) Sociology and Psychology. A student with an AAS in Design Technology who wishes to change careers might select courses in web development and graphic design. A student with an AAS in Advanced Manufacturing who has a goal of becoming a supervisor or manager might choose courses emphasizing human resource development, communication, and other management skills. 

In this track, students select 12 hours of courses based on their individual interests, backgrounds, and needs. One of these courses will be a required capstone course. The learning outcomes for this track are as follows:

1. Demonstrate the ability to think critically in the fields studied.
2. Effectively present central ideas, issues, and methods of inquiry specific to the fields studied.

Apply knowledge and skills from general education, the BAS core, and the Individualized Track to issues or challenges in their area of technical expertise.

       5.  Electives 0 - 12 hours

Courses counted toward the concentration must be taken for a letter grade.  Students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.0 or higher. As per IU campus policy, at least 30 hours must be at the 300 level or higher.