Antelope Valley College Degrees

Located in Lancaster, California, Antelope Valley College serves a vast area in both Los Angeles and Kern counties. The college offers 71 associate degrees and 59 vocational certificates. Students can take classes in person at various locations, online, and through instructional television.

In 2021, the most popular 1 to 2 Year Postsecondary Certificate concentration at Antelope Valley College was Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Degrees

Antelope Valley College offers degrees in 71 fields of study and 59 vocational certificate programs. It is a comprehensive two-year community college operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District and serves an area of 1,945 square miles covering parts of Kern and Los Angeles counties. Instruction is offered at sites in Lancaster and Palmdale as well as online and through instructional television classes. The college also offers courses that provide credit towards high school diploma requirements.

In addition to its academic offerings, the college also provides services for students such as counseling and career guidance. The college is also home to NextUp, a program that helps students prepare for a successful transfer to a four-year university.

The most popular majors at AVC are liberal arts and humanities, airframe and power plant technology/technician, and social science research methods. The most specialized majors at the college are mechanical technologies and communication technologies. The average cost after financial aid at AVC is $19,600.

Careers

Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college dedicated to providing services to a wide range of students with a variety of educational goals. It is committed to equal educational opportunity and reinforces this commitment through a program of active affirmation of diversity.

The college offers a large variety of degree programs and vocational certificate courses. Popular degrees include the associates degree in registered nursing and airframe and power plant technology. The college also offers programs to prepare students for careers in the arts and humanities, business and computer studies, and health and safety sciences.

The student:teacher ratio at Antelope Valley College is 17:1. This is lower than the California community college average of 22:1. The college offers a variety of services to help students succeed in their education, including career and transfer counseling, academic advisement, tutoring, and financial aid. Students are encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities, student clubs, and intercollegiate sports teams. Students who take college classes in addition to their high school work can earn college credit that can be transferred to a four-year university.

Admissions

Students at Antelope Valley College are able to choose from more than 70 associate degrees and 60 vocational certificates. The college offers programs in various fields, including nursing, airframe and power plant technician, computer graphics, respiratory therapy and wild land fire technology. The college also provides a number of bachelor’s degree programs.

The school’s tuition is $1,104 per year for in-state residents. It is significantly less than the average cost for associates colleges in California. However, many students still rely on loans to pay for their education.

In 2021, 94% of full-time undergraduate students at the school received financial aid. This aid came in the form of grants or scholarships. The average award discount was $6,203. These rates are based on the total price of tuition, room and board, books, supplies, and other fees. Applicants are encouraged to speak with an admissions counselor to get more information about financial aid options. Those who are nontraditional may find it especially difficult to afford higher education.

Financial Aid

The college offers a variety of resources to help students pay for their education. Its scholarships and grants cover about 89% of the school’s tuition costs. Candidates can also apply for student loans, which are borrowed funds that have to be repaid within a certain timeframe. The net price of attending Antelope Valley College can vary, depending on the applicant’s annual family income and financial need.

The university is one of the largest community colleges in California, and it serves more than 16,000 students each year. Its most popular degrees include nursing, airframe manufacturing technology, and respiratory therapy. The college also offers vocational certificate programs in computer graphics, aircraft fabrication and assembly, and firefighter I academy.

The university charges in-state residents $1,104 per year in tuition, plus $900 for textbooks and other educational resources. Out-of-state students must also budget $2,800 for other expenses. The school’s net price is lower than the national average. It is also less expensive than the average cost of tuition at other associates colleges.

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Low Cost, High Reward Antelope Valley Gardening

A renowned arborist, Baal is a guru to the hapless horticulturists who plant trees and shrubs in the desert climate of the Antelope Valley. The retired county forester preaches a gospel of low cost, high reward gardening strategies.

Palmdale’s claim to fame includes Muroc Army Air Field (now Edwards Air Force Base). Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier there, and actor R. Lee Ermey, of Full Metal Jacket and Mail Call fame, is a local.

Grass

Tony Baal likes to talk about the hapless horticulturists who plant trees and shrubs at their new houses in the Antelope Valley, only to see them wither and die. The retired county forester preaches with almost religious fervor that this desert boils in the summer and freezes in the winter, making it an uncooperative environment for landscape plantings.

Located in northern Los Angeles County and south-east Kern County, the Antelope Valley is part of the western Mojave high desert ecosystem. Its 3,000-square-mile closed basin includes the communities of Lancaster, Palmdale, Rosamond and Mojave, with residents including the test pilot Chuck Yeager who broke the sound barrier at Edwards Air Force Base in 1947; R. Lee Ermey, star of Full Metal Jacket and Mail Call; actress Tippi Hedren; and musician Frank Zappa. The AV is also home to Scaled Composites, the firm that built the SpaceShipOne and Voyager aerospace vehicles. Grass is the dominant vegetation in the area.

Ornamental Plants

Ornamental plants include annuals, perennials and woody shrubs and trees. Annuals complete a full flowering and seed-producing cycle in one year or one growing season, while perennials may go through many annual cycles or grow for several years. Woody plants are classified as vines, shrubs and trees according to their form. Vines trail along the ground, shrubs are short upright-growing plants with multiple stems and trees are tall upright-growing plants with a single stem.

Join the Lancaster “Love Your Mother Earth” Weed Pull at the world-famous Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve on Saturday, May 7. Help remove invasive weeds from this beautiful public space and give future poppies a chance to thrive.

Flowering Shrubs

The elegant cluster-lily boasts beautiful, funnel-shaped flowers in shades of violet or blue-violet from late spring through midsummer. This native flower to the mountainous regions of California and Oregon, thrives in full sunlight or partial shade. A spot with well-draining soil that is dry to medium in consistency is ideal for this low-maintenance flower.

The cobwebby thistle is a biennial or short-lived perennial herb that is native to various parts of California. It grows upright stems that feature a beautiful display of bright red, spiky flowers during the summer. Its flowers are a favorite among hummingbirds and adult swallowtail butterflies. Sowing this plant is best done in early spring, with a location that receives full sun exposure.

Baal quips with almost religious zeal about the hapless horticulturists he encounters in the Antelope Valley, who plant trees and shrubs they believe will grow well in our unforgiving climate only to see them wither and die. Whether he is educating backyard gardeners or helping to pull invasive weeds at the world-famous Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, his advice is adamant.

Perennials

In spring, snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) bloom in abundance at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve. These annual flowers offer a welcome burst of color, but they don’t accept summer’s heat well and are susceptible to six foliar diseases and three soil-borne fungi. They’re also prone to pests and snails and are easily undone by too much water, so drip irrigation is recommended if you want them in your garden. Other flowering perennials that are drought tolerant include penstemons, monkey flower and nemesia. Another good choice is the drought-tolerant native Galvezia californica, better known as island bush snapdragon. All of these plants are available at the reserve.

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