General Education Requirements

All students pursuing bachelor’s degrees must complete the following requirements:

Distribution requirements

• Rhetoric sequence (9 credits): RHET 101 and RHET 102 or equivalent, and RHET 351. A grade of “C” or higher in RHET 101 is a prerequisite for RHET 102, and a grade of “C” or higher in RHET 102 is required to meet this requirement.
• Language and Literature (8 credits): At least two courses totaling at least eight credits selected from eligible courses in Classics, English, foreign language, Philosophy, or Religion. No Rhetoric writing courses may be counted for this requirement. Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Fine Arts students may take beginning foreign language courses to complete this requirement, and Bachelor of Arts students who have fulfilled the 12-credit foreign language requirement may take additional foreign language courses to fulfill this requirement.
• Arts courses (6 credits): At least two courses, including at least one studio course, selected from eligible courses in Art, Art History, Dance, Music and Theatre Arts. Students who take private music lessons (which may be repeated up to six times) will enroll at the 100-level and be placed by the Music Faculty during the first week of classes.
• Science, Mathematics and Computer Science (8 credits for the BA, and 12 credits for BS and BSN): At least two courses selected from eligible courses in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, and Physics including at least one laboratory science course, excluding Computer Science courses (courses that meet the laboratory science component of the science distribution requirement must contain a significant emphasis on observation, data collection, and data analysis; courses that are primarily descriptive in nature or that consist of observing audiovisual tapes or computer simulations do not meet the laboratory science criteria), and at least three credits of college-level mathematics, MATH 101 or higher. No more than four credits of Computer Science may be counted toward the requirement. MATH 101 or MATH 116 (but not both) may be counted toward the requirement.
• Physical Education Activities Courses (2 credits): One of these credits must be obtained by successfully completing PHYP 110 Wellness. (Military basic training may not be used to fulfill any portion of the Physical Education activity requirement.)
• Social Sciences (12 credits): At least three courses selected from eligible courses in Anthropology and Sociology, Economics, History, Political Science, and Psychology. No more than two courses from a single department may be counted for this requirement.