Male student at computer station in modern office setting

Web Design & Development Online Associate Degree Program

can be completed in as little as

8 terms*

*2 terms per semester; each term is 7 weeks

Tuition

$335/credit

$1,005 3-credit course

Active Duty Military

truED Preferred Tuition

Credit Hours Required

60

Application Deadline

Spring A: Jan. 3

Upcoming Start Dates

Spring A: Jan. 13

Explore Web Design & Development

Capitalize on the growing demand for web developers and designers with a web design & development associate degree. Champlain's web development degree will familiarize you with both creative design and coding, and help you hone your existing web skills or launch your career in this dynamic field.

 

Build Your Career Future

With an integrated approach, our online web design and development associate degree will help you build key technical skills (including knowledge of over 19 key applications, platforms, and programming languages, listed below) including javascript, HTML, CSS and design fundamentals such as user experience (UX) and usability through layout and graphics in addition to in-demand soft skills such as problem-solving and communication. You'll emerge prepared for your web design career, ready to build fully functional, well-designed websites that are effective, user-focused, secure, and achieve business goals. Plus, the web design associate degree it's a solid stepping stone toward a full bachelor's degree in web design and development for those who are returning to school after time away, or embarking on their first degree.

Take the next step

Academic Excellence and Recognition

badge for 2024 ranking

Designated among the best schools with accelerated bachelor's degrees by Intelligent.com

Ranked among the most affordable online web development bachelor's degrees

Ranked among the Most Affordable Bachelor's in Web Development programs

Ranked among best online web development bachelor's degrees

Ranked among the Best Colleges For Value for Web Development Bachelor's Degrees

US News & World Report Best Online Bachelor's Degree Programs

Consistently ranked among the Best Online Programs by US News & World Report

Move Your Web Design & Development Career Forward

Web development careers are expected to grow 13% between 2020 and 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations. The median annual salary for web developers is $77,200.*

 The high demand for web design and development services across the business world means that job opportunities are available in virtually any industry, including computer systems design, creative services, finance and insurance, education, and nonprofits.

*Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 2020; job titles: Payscale, 2020

Top Jobs: What You Can Do as a Web Developer with an Associate Degree

  • Front End Developer
  • Graphic Designer
  • Web Designer
  • Web Developer
  • UX Designer
Web Design & Development professional at the office in front of multiple computer screens writing code

Program Details

Learn more about Champlain's 100% online web design & development associate degree, designed for working professionals.

Champlain's web design degree online courses encompass the top skills needed by today's web professionals. Graduates of the web developer associate degree program are required to complete the following courses.

Professional Courses (39 credits)

General Education Courses (21 credits)

  • Written Communication
  • Oral Communication
  • Inquiry & Analysis
  • Quantitative Literacy
  • Scientific Literacy: Natural Sciences
  • Social Sciences or Arts & Humanities

 

Professional Courses:

Today's high-quality digital images are as much art as they are science. In this course, students learn to use Adobe Photoshop to prepare and create images for web use. Hands-on activities develop familiarity with tools like eyedropper and quick mask, but also challenge students to create vector shapes and incorporate typography into the design of an ebook cover. Students also must create an email campaign and redesign a web site to specifications.

Websites must balance technology with aesthetics. In this course, students study web design patterns and personas, and then create a wireframe storyboard with at least four panels designed for a standard desktop view. Students use Mockups 3.

Prerequisites

Complete MKCM-102 or WEBD-125

Great websites are created with specific audiences in mind and are the culmination of a process that includes creating messaging and developing a strategy that maps out the best content and functionality to reach the audience and influence its behavior. In this course, students begin with a SWOT analysis and development of a mission statement, and then create a sitemap and content, before publishing a website and blog.

From day one, students in this course are problem solving, first in terms of algorithmic design and then as early as week two via programming in the latest version of Python, using PyCharm. Students begin by writing a program to have a conversation, having strings and numbers as input, and advance, by week seven, to building a working password saver program, capable of looking up, adding (and encrypting), and storing passwords.

From storyboard to form creation, students walk through the steps to create a basic four to five-page website to specification in this course that introduces HTML5 and CSS. Hands-on assignments reinforce skills development and best practices in design: navigation, column layout, image editing and usage, fonts and tables.

Learn the basics and more in this course on Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) and SQL (Structured Query Language). Students propose a final project in the first module and then work, week-by-week, to design, create, and populate the database. Then, students learn to create queries and stored procedures.

Prerequisites

CMIT-135

Students who want to build database-driven or interactive web sites benefit from this course which covers PHP and MySQL along with how to build sites that incorporate authentication and security. Each week hands-on assignments are used to reinforce concepts. Students advance from an introduction to PHP and basic syntax, to handling user input and manipulating arrays in web forms to queries.

Prerequisites

WEBD-125, CMIT-200

Hands-on learning begins in week one when students must create a Pen in CodePen before they can submit a short program written in Javascript and continues through the final project in which students produce a web application that contains specific elements. Functions, objects, and events, but also DOM (Document Object Model), AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML), and JSON (Javascript Object Notation), are presented in this course.

Prerequisites

WEBD-225, CMIT-135

Complex web page designs fully utilized all the functionality provided by the browser. In this course, students complete a variety of hands-on assignments as part of a redesign of an existing site. One week they recreate a page using appropriate HTML5 tags, while in another they implement drag and drop functionality that must work when the site is displayed in the Chrome browser. Later in the course, students animate transitions and build a basic responsive version of the site.

Prerequisites

WEBD-125

This course provides students with an understanding of the many different devices and technologies, from historical to emerging, that are required to design and build networks. In a broad survey of concepts and terminology, students will learn about topology, communications, protocols, and security, and to diagram basic networks to specification.

This course, through guided research and hands-on learning experiences, provides students with an understanding of operating systems, including their core fundamental principles and how they work. Students are introduced to the three most popular operating systems for personal computers (Windows, OSX and Linux), and mobile operating systems, and learn about standard functions such as memory, process/thread, input/output, storage and device management.

This course examines web servers from the page "in" rather than website design, which is from the page "out". Students learn the differences between TCP and UDP, gain an understanding of XML, and build a use case for a course enrollment system. Hands-on labs allow students to use ping and traceroute, and create XAMPP alias directories.

Prerequisites

CMIT-130, CMIT-140

Project Management is the formal application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project-based activities to meet organizational requirements. Project management is accomplished through the use of processes such as Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. Project managers can divide projects into these phases to provide better management control with appropriate links to the ongoing operations of the organization. Collectively, these phases, known as the project life cycle, form the foundation for the practice of project management and are guided by the Body of Knowledge from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Project schedules allow managers, team members, and stakeholders to track progress, set and manage expectations, communicate, control costs, and collaborate. Tasks and deliverables can be monitored and controlled to ensure timely delivery-and if any delays do occur, project managers can easily gauge their impact and make the necessary adjustments. Central to the schedule is a detailed understanding of the project budget, and working to control costs and manage stakeholder expectations.

Prerequisites

Take MGMT-260

Complete these two courses, unless a specific course is required by your program:

This course introduces students to the foundational concepts needed to communicate effectively in writing for academic study and professional development. Students will also learn to read critically to evaluate an author's message. Students will be introduced to rhetorical modes and their role in the development of written communication. Students will also learn how to use revision strategies to create written communication that meets its intended purpose for its intended audience

This course builds on students' proficiency in the writing process and rhetorical modes to introduce the use of sources in written communication. Students will practice information literacy as they learn to determine information needs from sources, develop effective search strategies, and incorporate sources in written communication, legally and ethically.

Prerequisites

Complete ENGL-100

Complete this course, unless a specific course is required by your program:

Starting with a frame of human communication as a dynamic system of interactions in which people make choices that impact their relationships, other people, and themselves, students will define theory-informed communication concepts and processes, and critically examine how they apply to everyday life across a variety of contexts. Students will reflect on how the theory, concepts and processes apply to their own lives in becoming competent communicators who are knowledgeable, skilled, and versatile.

Complete this course, unless a specific course is required by your program:

Students will learn and apply critical inquiry skills to analyze persuasive communication created by others and to develop persuasive communication/arguments of their own to solve problems in professional, civic, social, and personal contexts. Specifically, students will learn to recognize fallacies in logic; apply inductive and deductive reasoning strategies to the interpretation and development of persuasive communication; evaluate the validity of sources; and develop logically sound persuasive communication. Students will explore the roles of self-awareness, empathy, and ethics in the context of critical inquiry and the development of arguments.

Prerequisites

Complete ENGL-110.

Choose any one of the following, unless a specific course is required by your program:

Mathematical reasoning, when applied to everyday and professional lives, has two dimensions: logic for deterministic situations and probabilities for non-deterministic situations. This course aims to help students develop these mathematical reasoning skills.

This course introduces students to basic statistics for data literacy. With a focus on exploring real-world data, students will interpret numerical information and utilize the tools necessary to complete the entire statistical process: designing a study; gathering, organizing, and analyzing sample data; and making inferences about a population. Students will demonstrate data-driven decision-making and effective communication of numerical data.

Complete any one of the following, unless a specific course is required by your program:

Introduces students to the biochemistry and physiology of nutrition and exercise. Emphasis will be placed on human body systems such as musculoskeletal, digestive, respiratory and circulatory, and their relationship to nutrition and fitness. Students will also study the biochemistry of energy conversion as it relates to exercise physiology. Laboratory sessions are designed to reinforce, by a hands-on approach, the principles discussed in lecture. Course includes two laboratory hours per week.

Students learn the biology, genetics, chemistry, and physics involved in the forensic investigation of crimes. A wide range of topics are studied including DNA, entomology, fingerprinting, trace evidence, serology (blood, saliva, and semen), blood spatter, and chemical analysis of drugs, alcohol, and other compounds. Students apply their new knowledge of forensic science through the use of case studies and laboratories. This course includes two laboratory hours per week.

Students will develop the ability to apply scientific methods to understand the natural world, to identify scientific aspects of daily life, and to evaluate the quality of scientific information based on its source and the methods used for its generation.

Complete any one of the following courses, unless a specific course is required by your program:

With pressure and release, a window opens and closes, recording light on a sensor. The simple action captures the instinct, judgement, and skill of the person behind the lens. This class will begin a study of the art and craft of photography. Students will develop their vision and their understanding of how to achieve it. Solid skills will be learned and many doors will be opened.

A survey of the continuing change experienced in art since the 15th century. Students will examine how an image is achieved as well as the significance of the subject represented. Individual inquiry concerning the nature of art is encouraged.

Students learn to appreciate films through the critical analysis of various elements of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. The course introduces the conventions of classical Hollywood cinema, considers the work of one major director (auteur), and surveys selected international and independent films. Students view and discuss films each week.

Students in the course will explore the cultural history of the music genre broadly referred to as rock. Students will explore the social, economic and political contexts that are influenced by and that influenced each style in the United States. By listening, watching, reflecting upon, discussing and writing, students will explore how music takes on meaning, personally, and culturally. Topics and themes include the relationships between and among gospel, country, funk, folk, disco, rap and hip hop; the role of business and technology in those relationships, and political or transgressive elements of rock music.

Students will apply communication theory and research to address the particular challenges to communicating effectively in organizations. Students will learn how to identify organizational communication problems, analyze those problems, and generate effective solutions. Students will examine the relationship between organizational structure and specific communicative practices, and how communication practices by organizational members establish, maintain, or change organizational culture. They will also learn how to anticipate communication deficiencies in organizations, and use communication as a means to facilitate organizational development and innovation.

Prerequisites

Complete COMM-130

Provides a comprehensive analysis of the fundamentals of substantive criminal law. Students will learn the essential elements of crimes and the rationale underlying criminal law. The nature of jurisdiction, the criminal act, the criminal state of mind and matters affecting responsibility for criminal conduct are included.

This course focuses on the rules and procedures governing how the American criminal justice system must process individuals suspected, accused, and convicted of law violations.

This course provides students with a broad overview of the history, theory, and fundamentals of criminal investigation. Students are introduced to the basic responsibilities of investigators and protocols for report writing, evidence collection, and preparation of cases for trial. They also learn specific investigative techniques for different types of crimes, such as crimes involving violence and property, terrorism, and hate crimes, and, where appropriate, compare investigative protocols from other legal cultures.

Prerequisites

Take CRIM-120, CRIM-121.

Principles of Economics introduces the fundamental concepts of economics - the study of how people manage resources, and how they react to scarcity. This course focuses on both microeconomics (the behavior of consumers and companies) and macroeconomics (large-scale economic factors such as employment and interest rates), so that you'll gain a broad understanding of how a modern market economy functions, how decisions in business settings are informed by economics, and how economics applies to your everyday life.

Students will study important themes in the social history of the United States since the Civil War. This course allows students to expand their critical thinking skills through an examination of primary and secondary sources. Themes might include: the evolving status of women; the immigrant experience; the concept of the American dream; the paradox of freedom vs. slavery; the minority experience; the tensions between social classes. Students will be evaluated primarily on writing assignments.

Students will learn how to create conditions for successful conflict engagement, a necessary skill for any professional. The course focuses on the foundational capacities to remain calm and connected with oneself and others. In this state students can access helpful ideas and responses and be their best selves regardless of environment. Improving facility for conflict creates stronger relationships and reduces fear. By the end of the course, students will understand that disagreement and difference can become a source of personal and interpersonal growth.

Ethics refers to accepted standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do in various contexts, typically in relation to rights, obligations/duties, benefits to society, fairness, consequences, and virtues. In this course, students will explore both theoretical and practical dimensions of ethics in order to 1) define ethics and identify ethical positions and principles, 2) critically reflect on how ethics impacts individual and collective responsibility, decision-making, and action, and 3) apply ethics to the personal, civic, and professional contexts.

Prerequisites

ENGL-110

In this course, students will explore broad, foundational knowledge in psychology, including its history, major theorists and a survey of psychology subfields such as developmental, cognitive and social psychology. Students will also describe and assess the role of ethics and social responsibility in the study and application of psychological theory and practices.

In this class, students will explore how social relationships, groups, societies and culture develop and change over time. From a sociological theory foundation and employing the sociological imagination, students will examine the impact of social structures, institutions, and systems on individual lives. Students will apply sociological research methods to investigate sociological phenomena in their own lives.

This course explores the complex and evolving relationship between human beings and technology. Through a multi-disciplinary approach that draws on fields such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, and history, students will examine the ways in which technology has shaped human culture, identity, and values, as well as how humans have influenced and continue to influence the development, adoption and use of technology.

Graduates of the web design & development associate online program will demonstrate the following industry-specific skills, knowledge, and competencies:

  • Employ fundamental computer theory to basic programming techniques.
  • Use fundamental skills to maintain web server services required to host a website.
  • Select and apply markup languages for processing, identification, and presentation of information on web pages.
  • Use scripting languages and web services to transfer data and add interactive components to web pages.
  • Create and manipulate web media objects using editing software.
  • Incorporate aesthetics and formal concepts of layout and organization to design websites that effectively communicate using visual elements.
  • AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML)
  • CodePen
  • CSS
  • DOM (Document Object Model)
  • HTML5
  • Javascript
  • JSON (Javascript Object Notation)
  • MySQL
  • Photoshop
  • PHP
  • PyCharm
  • Python
  • Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS)
  • SQL (Structured Query Language)
  • TCP
  • UDP
  • VMware
  • XAMPP
  • XML

Champlain College Online's computer science faculty, led by Department Chair Richard Pickering, are expert practitioners in the field. Their industry expertise ensures that our curriculum is aligned with the needs of employers, and reflects the skills today’s IT systems professionals need for success. Classes led by our seasoned experts will give you real-world insight into the world of information technology, and create a rich community of career-focused learning.

Alumni of the Champlain College Online associate in web design and development program work in corporations, small businesses, government organizations, and nonprofits nationwide, including:

  • AT&T
  • Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center
  • Department of Defense 
  • National Life Group
  • Toyota
  • Verizon
  • VSAC
  • Winston Benefits

 

Titles our alumni hold include:

  • Business Intelligence Analyst
  • Business Owner
  • Configuration Analyst
  • Graphic Designer
  • Internet Sales
  • Technician 

Many students come to us seeking ways to get noticed at their current employers or to get hired in a new field. Given that, we are hyper focused on increasing the career mobility of our students and that's why we developed the Fast Start Formula Career Bundle, a suite of career offerings designed to help our students get noticed, get hired and land jobs they'll love.

Valued at over $1,000, the career bundle is offered to Champlain College Online students and includes:

  • Fast Start Formula Course: The Fast Start Formula Course for getting noticed and getting hired is taught by Jen Morris, an executive career coach that we've developed a partnership with to support our students in their job search journeys. This course is online, self-paced and full of tips and tricks to land a job you'll love.
  • Live Webinars: Log-on to ask your specific job search questions, get live “hot seat” coaching and gain valuable insights from leading career coach, Jen Morris.
  • Landing A Job You'll Love Ebook: Download this ebook full of tips and tricks for standing out from the competition. From how to optimize your LinkedIn profile, to insider information on how recruiters work and bypassing the automated application websites, you’ll be sure to learn how to rise to the top.

Upon enrollment in a degree or certificate, your access to the Fast Start Formula Career Bundle will made available to you.

Tuition & Costs

Online Undergraduate Tuition Fall '23 - Summer '25

$335 per credit
$1,005* per course
$290** per credit for Champlain alumni or associate degree graduates from any college or university
$250 per credit for military service members (family members see truED tuition)
$150 One-time graduation fee

*Based on a 3-credit course; cost will vary if course is a different number of credits

** Starts Summer 2024, not retroactive 

See the undergraduate cost of attendance and fees here

What To Expect at Champlain Online

Expect Convenience

Go to school wherever and whenever is best for you, on the device of your choice.

Expect A Career Focus

Relevant and immediately applicable coursework gets you ready for your next career move

Expect Support

Your dedicated academic advisor provides the support you need to meet your academic goals

Expect Superior Faculty

Learn from practitioner faculty working in the field, with real-world experience and knowledge.

Why Champlain

Online Experience

"Studying at Champlain Online was a long-sought opportunity for me to get a formal and complete education in IT. I appreciated the school's virtual environment, and the small class sizes allowed better and easier interaction with the professors."

Christian Ntsiba Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity
IT Developer, Advisor360°
Christian Ntsiba, Bachelor's Degree in Cybersecurity

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Learn what you can expect from our associate in web design & development program.

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