General Education

General education structures the development of knowledge, values, and skills on which higher learning in all disciplines depends and that mark the achievement of higher learning no matter the discipline. These experiences combine with several others to form the general education program for all students: a First-Year Seminar, common first-year experiences, required participation in the Forum Series of public lectures and performances, opportunities for applied or community-based learning experiences, and a set of course requirements distributed across academic disciplines. Taken together, the Rockford University general education program provides students the foundation for fulfilling lives and effective participation in their professions and the civic life of their communities.

An essential, but supportive component to our general education program is a universal, upper-division graduation requirement in rhetoric, argumentative writing, and oral communication. This experience builds on earlier work in basic communication skills, raises the standard expected of all Rockford University students, and prepares them for the senior seminar required in all majors.