Law, Public Policy, and Society

Associate in Arts Degree for Transfer Criminal Justice · Coastline College · 2026-2027 Catalog

The Associate in Arts for Transfer (AA-T) Area of Emphasis: Law, Public Policy and Society is a degree program designed to prepare students for the further study of law. The coursework required to earn this degree has been identified as preparation for law school upon completion of a bachelor’s degree. Students in this program will be introduced to the legal field and will gain an interdisciplinary understanding of legal concepts and policy issues related to diverse populations. This program emphasizes the development of skills essential in the legal profession, including communication, argumentation and critical thinking. As an interdisciplinary AA-T degree, this program includes core courses in several majors offered at four-year universities. Students are encouraged to further explore these other majors when selecting electives to complete this AA-T Area of Emphasis: Law, Public Policy and Society degree.

Associate Degrees for Transfer (AA-T or AS-T) are open to all Coastline students. Students who do not plan on transferring to a California State University school should consult their Counselor regarding the benefits of an AA-T/AS-T degree based on their goals. Students earning an AA-T or AS-T and intending on transferring to a California State University school receive transfer admission benefits for specific majors at many California State University campuses. Visit the Transfer Information catalog page for more information.

Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Develop legal and critical-thinking skills in judicial issues.
  2. Evaluate legal issues in a variety of different environments.
  3. Analyze issues by application of relevant rules of law, ethical standards, and social mores.

Requirements

Associate Degree for Transfer Requirements

  1. Minimum of 60 CSU-transferable semester units. A minimum of 12 units must be in residence within Coast Colleges (Coastline College, Golden West College, and/or Orange Coast College).
  2. Minimum grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in all CSU-transferable coursework.
  3. Completion of a minimum of 18 semester units in an Associate Degree for Transfer major as detailed in the catalog. All courses in the major must be completed with a grade of “C” or better or a “P” if the course is taken on a “pass-no pass” basis.
  4. Certified Completion of the California Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (CalGETC - Coastline Option 2 General Education pattern).
CourseTitleUnits
Required Core
Complete the following:
CJ C128Criminal Procedure3
orCJ C140Introduction to Criminal Justice
orCJ C141Criminal Law
COMM C1000Introduction to Public Speaking3
orCMST C140Small Group Communication
ENGL C1000Academic Reading and Writing4
CMST C220Essentials of Argumentation3
orENGL C1001Critical Thinking and Writing
orPHIL C115Logic and Critical Thinking
HIST C170United States History to 18773
orHIST C175United States History since 1865
STAT C1000Introduction to Statistics4
PHIL C120Ethics3
POLS C1000American Government and Politics3
List A
Select two Courses (not used in Core courses completion) from 2 different areas below:6
Administration of Justice
CJ C128Criminal Procedure
orCJ C140Introduction to Criminal Justice
orCJ C141Criminal Law
Business
BUS C110Business Law/Legal Environment of Business
Economics
ECON C170Principles of Microeconomics
orECON C175Principles of Macroeconomics
Political Science
PSCI C183Introduction to International Relations
orPSCI C185Comparative Government and Politics
orPSCI C188Political Theory
orPSCI C200Introduction to Political Science
Public Policy
SOC C185Analysis of Social Problems
Diversity
ANTH C100Cultural Anthropology
orGEOG C185Cultural Geography
orSOC C233Racial and Ethnic Relations in America
College Success
COUN C105Strategies for College Success
Major Units32
CalGETC34
Transfer Electives as needed to reach 60 transferable unitsvaries
Total Units60

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