As of Fall 2019, Citrus College will be introducing an Associate Degree for Transfer in Computer Science. It has taken years of growing demand for this degree to become one of those offered at Citrus.
Before the new option was introduced, students wanting to study Computer Science had very few options, including the competitive program at Mt. Sac and extremely expensive or noncredit online schools, such as Udemy.
Gaming and Application Development student Christian Carter said that “not everyone can afford expensive schools and you need some sort of certificate to get a job in the field.” So by introducing this degree, Citrus is creating what Carter called a “great affordable option” for students of computer science.
These students have professor Robert Solis to thank for the new degree, as he has been involved with every step of the process of developing this degree over the last several years. Solis said in an email that the new degree “is a foundation to a lucrative career in various fields.” Being able to transfer into a computer science program at a university gives Citrus students a greater chance in high-tech career fields.
Michael Rueter, president of the computer science club, said that the introduction of this degree will “absolutely” bring more students to Citrus, adding that even the related classes being offered now “get filled pretty quickly with more and more students.”
Rueter expressed both excitement and regret about the new degree, because the new group of students that pursue the degree will get to do so in unison and create a network among themselves, which is something that Rueter missed out on in his experience as a computer science student who will transfer before the degree is introduced.
All the same, this new degree provides opportunities for Citrus students that they did not have before. It also provides those opportunities for students who may be competing for the limited space in the computer science program at Mt. Sac. The Computer Science ADT will be a beneficial addition to the programs at Citrus.
