I'm going to start college soon to get myself a degree in Web Design. I've
been using Flash for years and my greatest handicap is my limited (read:
amateruish) knowledge of Action Script.

I want to take a course to improve my knowledge of this language and how it
works. The college doesn't offer any courses specific to "Flash" itself. What
would any of you recommend as a standard/programming course or language for me
to learn that would give me the best handle on Action Script?

When you say 'learn actionscrip' where would you like to begin stop()

Probably best if yo have an idea of what you want to do with flash then check
on these forums and google 'flash tutorials'

The help files in Flash itself have some stuff on basic AS

There is acres of help out there if you know what youd like help with

Well, to clarify; I know where to go get specific information on Action script
and things I need for my sites, but when I see someone post something like this:

var myTreeDP:XML = new XML();
myTreeDP.ignoreWhite = true;
myTreeDP.load("binsXML.xml");
myTreeDP.onLoad = function() {
myTree.dataProvider = this.firstChild;
};
var treeListenerbject = new Object();
treeListener.change = function(evtbject) {
trace("selected node is: "+evt.target.selectedNode);
trace("");
};
myTree.addEventListener("change",treeListener);

They LEARNED that somewhere. What it means and how to string it together
logically. It's mostly Greek to me. The question is what courses would turn
that from Greek to plain English in my eyes?

Well if it is not a piece of code you are going to use right now at this stage
in your learning dont bother. Say to your self "what do I want to do with
Flash?" You may say display a text field that reads from an external text field
- then find an online tutorial about that and ask questions on a forum such as
this

There are naturally courses that teach advanced AS but they will probably NOT
be specific to your own requirements. Suss out what you want to do with it,
learn some basics and take it from there - it is not neccesarily a fast process