General Education is the foundation that provides students with the necessary skills to achieve academic and professional success, and pursue a lifetime of learning. General education provides a broad base of knowledge and essential skills that are relevant to each academic discipline of the university. The achievement of these goals will help students to enrich their lives and become responsible citizens and servant leaders.
Students who complete the general education curriculum will be able to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding, and ability in the following areas:
- Aesthetic Appreciation - Students will demonstrate an understanding of the various modes of creative expression and appreciation of the works of the creative mind.
- Critical Thinking - Students will demonstrate the ability to think analytically, logically, and scientifically about information.
- Diversity and Human Behavior - Students will demonstrate an understanding of the relationship of the individual to society through a study of individual and group behavior.
- Ethics - Students will demonstrate an understanding of Christian values and ethical standards in order to make mature and informed decisions concerning moral issues.
- Oral and Written Communication - Students will demonstrate the ability to express ideas, beliefs, and information in an organized, precise, and persuasive manner.
- Quantitative Literacy - Students will demonstrate the ability to understand and utilize mathematical and/or logical relationships to analyze data, to construct and assess arguments, and to make sound judgments in quantitative situations that arise in daily life.
- Social Responsibility and Citizenship - Students will demonstrate an understanding of personal and social responsibility in a changing global environment so that students can make contributions to their respective discipline and to society as a whole.
Some General Education courses have prerequisites. Some courses have a minimum grade requirement before the next course can be taken. A prescribed sequence of certain courses exists to better serve students as they progress through their academic careers. The student’s academic advisor will help the student make appropriate choices when scheduling courses. Many programs of study (areas, majors, and minors) require General Education courses as prerequisites or as core courses. Students should determine if this is the case with the desired program of study and choose General Education courses accordingly.
A course listed in both the General Education component and in the area, major, or minor core will satisfy both requirements. When a course meets two requirements (i.e. General Education and the Major), its hours count only once in the total hours earned that apply toward those needed for graduation. Students should monitor this and plan to take additional courses to ensure the minimum total hours required for graduation is met.
