JOURNALISM
Associate in Arts for Transfer
Program Details
The Associate in Arts in Journalism for Transfer degree (AA-T in Journalism) will help students achieve their academic and career goals by helping them acquire the skills needed to gather information from a variety of sources and prepare that information to share with the public using a variety of platforms. The AA-T in Journalism degree will provide courses for students so that they may succeed at college level journalistic writing, editing, news judgment, news ethics and elements of design. The degree will prepare them for success in a baccalaureate degree in journalism with the lower-division coursework required to transfer in the CSU system. The Associate Degree for Transfer (AA-T or AS-T) is a special degree offered at California Community Colleges. Students who earn an AA-T or AS-T degree are guaranteed admission to a campus within the California State University (CSU) system, although not necessarily to a specific campus or major. Students who complete an AA-T or AS-T are given priority consideration when applying to a particular program that is similar to the student’s community college major and will be given a special GPA advantage when applying to CSU impacted campuses or majors. Students who are planning to pursue an AA-T or AS-T are strongly advised to meet with a counselor for additional information about this transfer program. The Cuesta College AA-T/AS-T degree requires: (1) Completion of 60 semester units that are eligible for transfer to the California State University, including both of the following: (A) California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC). (B) A minimum of 18 semester units or 27 quarter units in a major or area of emphasis, as determined by the community college district. (2) Obtainment of a minimum grade point average of 2.0. (3) Earning a “C” or better grade in all courses required for the major or area of emphasis. A"P" (Pass) grade is an acceptable grade for courses in the major.
JOURNALISM Pathways
Pathways listed below are for the catalog year 2026-2027. Maps for previous years are available on each pathway page. What is a catalog year?
Featured Careers
Find your calling. Explore high-earning careers with entry-level data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Communications Teachers, Postsecondary
Master's degree, Doctoral degree
- Job growth: Stable
- Low salary: 47,100
- High salary: 160,210
- Average salary: 77800
Editors
Bachelor's degree, Master's degree
- Job growth: Declining
- Low salary: 36,200
- High salary: 140,840
- Average salary: 75260
- Job growth: Declining
- Low salary: 34,590
- High salary: 162,430
- Average salary: 60280
All Careers in JOURNALISM (6)
| Communications Teachers, Postsecondary | Master's degree, Doctoral degree | Stable | 77,800 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editors | Bachelor's degree, Master's degree | Declining | 75,260 |
| Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers | Bachelor's degree, Some college | Stable | 72,270 |
| Writers and Authors | Bachelor's degree, Some college | Stable | 72,270 |
| News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists | - n/a | Declining | 60,280 |
| Proofreaders and Copy Markers | Bachelor's degree, Associate's degree | Declining | 49,210 |
Program Pathways Mapper incorporates information from O*NET Web Services by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes help you work towards your educational goals.
- Demonstrate clear and accurate writing using established conventions in grammar, style, organization and communication formats.
- Demonstrate understanding of ethical principles in pursuit of truth, accuracy and fairness.
- Employ critical evaluation skills for accuracy, fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness.
- Exercise news judgment in topic/story selection, information gathering, content development, writing and editing media copy for target audiences through the appropriate medium.
- Identify and practice the roles and principles of a free press in a participatory democracy.
- Practice competency in professional writing standards on matters such as truth, accuracy, fairness, objectivity and meeting deadlines.
