General Education Curriculum Categories Notes:

GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20091|Page

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GeneralEducationCurriculumCategories

UsingOhioStateUniversitycategoriesasabasis,thispapercomparestheGECrequirementsofpeeruniv ersities.



Categories

 PeerUniversities(lastrevisionofGEC–ifknown)

1. Writing&RelatedSkills

2. QuantitativeandLogicSkills

3. ForeignLanguage

4. NaturalScience

5. SocialScience

6. ArtsandHumanities

7. HistoricalStudy

8. Diversity

9. IssuesofaContemporaryWorld



UniversityofArizona

UCLA(2002)

UniversityofIllinois–Urbana

UniversityofMinnesota

UniversityofMichigan



UniversityofFlorida

UniversityofMaryland(1990)

PennsylvaniaStateUniversity

UniversityofWisconsin(1996)

UniversityofWashington(1994)

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Notes:

 Calendar:OnlyOhioStateUniversity,UCLA,andtheUniversityofWashingtonareonquarters.

 Writing:Alluniversitiesrequireafirst‐yearcompositioncourse.AfewschoolsallowwaiversbasedonIB,AP.Afewschoolsrequire

additionalwritingthatcanbemetbyotherwritingintensivecourses,or

writingcoursestailoredtothestudent’sdiscipline.

 ForeignLanguage:MostCollegesofArts&Sciencesrequirestudentstodemonstrateproficiencyoftwoyearsormoreofaforeign

language.Studentsmaytestoutbyexamormeettherequirementbasedonhighschoolcoursework.

 NaturalScience:

TypicallyastudentmusttakeonecourseinPhysicalSciencesandonecourseinLifeSciences.

 SocialScience:Typicallyastudenttakestwocoursesinthiscategory,oftencalledSocialandBehavioralSciencesorIndividualsand

Societies.

 ArtsandHumanities:OhioState’srequirements arewithinthenormalrange.



 HistoricalStudies:Manyuniversitiesdonothaveanexplicithistoryrequirement,butitisoftenmetinotherareas(Humanities,

individualsandsocieties).

GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20092|Page

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 Diversity:OnlyUCLAandUniversityofWashingtondonotrequireaculturalstudiescourse.SeverallikeOhioStateUniversityrequire

oneinUSSocialDiversityandoneinInternationalCultures/Issues.

 IssuesofaContemporaryWorld:OnlytheUniversityofMinnesotahadasimilarrequirement.



Writing&RelatedSkills

Ifspeechclassisrequireditisnotedexplicitly,otherwiseitisnotarequirement.

University

Q–Quarters

S‐Semesters

Minimum

Requirement

Maximum

Requirement

AdvancedStanding/

Placement

Notes

OhioState(Q) 10credits 10credits 

UniversityofArizona

(S)

1course 3courses First‐yearcomposition

coursemaybewaived.

AP–4orhigher

First‐YearEnglishComposition

.AdditionalEnglishcompositionand

writingrequirementsincludetheMid‐CareerWritingAssessment

(MCWA)andaWritingEmphasisCourse.Mid‐CareerWriting

AssessmentissatisfiedbyearninggradeBorbetterinsecond

semesterEnglishcomposition.



TierOnestudyareasmustincludewritingandre‐writingofpaper.



Beingreviewed.Reviewingfinanciallimitationsandonline

opportunities.

UCLA(Q) 1course 2courses Writing1maybe

waivedif:

SATII–720onwriting

AP‐4orhigher

AndEnglishProficiency

byEnglishDepartment

exam.

EntrylevelwritingtestinCaliforniagiveninhighschool.Student

mustpassthatortakearemedialwritingcourse.



Must

fulfillWritingIIlevelcourse.Firstwritingclassmaybewaived.

SecondwritingclassmaybefulfilledthroughGeneralEducation

Clusterseries.

UniversityofIllinois

–Urbana(S)

1course 1course Noplacement MustfulfillAdvancedCompositioncourse.Firstcompositioncourse

maybewaived.AdvancedCompositioncoursemaybetakenwithin

themajor.

Universityof

Minnesota(S)

1or2firstyear

writingcourses

4writing

intensive

Placementbasedon

highschoolinformation.

Studentsneedtocomplete1‐2first‐yearwritingcourses,depending

ontheircollegeofenrollment,and4writingintensivecourses.Two

GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20093|Page

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dependingupon

placement

courses AP–3orhigher

IB–5orhigher

ofthewritingintensivecoursesmustbetakenattheupperdivision

level,1ofwhichmustbetakeninthestudent'smajor.

Universityof

Michigan(S)

2courses 2courses Musttakewritingat

Michigan

OneFirst‐YearWritingCourse:Maybetakenwithinacademic

interestinsmallsection.

OneUpper‐LevelWritingRequirement:Helpthembecomeproficient

incommunicatingintheirdiscipline.

UniversityofFlorida

(S)

1course(3

credits)

6credits AP–3gets3credits

4gets6credits

DualEnrollmentinhigh

school



LiberalArtsrequires6credits



Graduatesmustmeet24,000‐wordwritingrequirement.Thefirst‐

yearcompositioncoursemeets6,000‐wordrequirement.Additional

coursesthatmeet

distributiverequirementscanbeused.Courses

areassignedthenumberofwordseachcoursemeets.

Universityof

Maryland(S)

1course

exemptionbyAP

orSATscore

2courses

 APEnglish

Languageand

Compositiontest

scoreof4or5,or

 SATverbalscore

670orabove

IntroductiontoWritingmustbecompletedby60creditswithsome

exceptions.

ProfessionalWritingcoursemaybe

waivedifstudentearnsanA.

(English39xseries)gearedtowardstudentmajor(i.e.,science,legal,

healthprofessionals).CollegeofEngineeringrequiresProfessional

Writing.

PennsylvaniaState

University(S)

12credits 12credits CannotwaiveEnglish

Comp.Speechcanbe

waivedwithAPorIB.

Thisincludesspeech(CAS100),first‐yearwritingand3creditsof

writingacrossthecurriculumcourses(awritingintensivecourse).

Universityof

Wisconsin(S)

2‐3credits 5or6credits AP‐4 LiteraryProficiency–first‐yearlevelcanbewaived.Moreadvanced

secondcourseisrequired.Severalcoursesatuniversityfulfillthis

requirement.

Written,OralandInformationLiteracies

Universityof

Washington(Q)

12credits 15credits Nowaiverfor

compositioncredit.

1.One5‐creditEnglishComposition

2.7‐10creditsofadditionalwriting(notacompositioncoursebut

throughoutmajor)

Differentforbusinessandengineering–theyhavespecificwriting

courses



GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20094|Page



Quantitative&LogicSkills

University Minimum

Requirement

Maximum

Requirement

AdvancedStanding/Placement Notes

OhioState(Q) 10hours 15hours 1. BasicComputationalSkills,0‐5hours

2. Mathematical&LogicalAnalysis,5

hours

3. DataAnalysis,5hours

UniversityofArizona(S) 1course 1course  Veryfewmajorswouldnotrequireonemath

course.Somerequiremore.

UCLA(Q) 1course(Cor

better)

1course(Cor

better)

SATMath:600orhigher

SATsubjecttest:550orhigher

QuantitativeReasoning:couldbeinother

departments.Logic,biostats,programming.

Mayoverlapwithpre‐requisitesfortheirmajor.

UniversityofIllinois–

Urbana(S)

2courses 4courses AP–4or5

IB–4or5

QuantitativeReasoningI:1‐2courses

QuantitativeReasoningII:1‐2courses

UniversityofMinnesota(S) 1course AP–3orhigher

IB–5orhigher

MathematicalThinking

UniversityofMichigan(S) 1course

(QR/1)

3courses(QR/2)

and/or

Mathematical&

SymbolicAnalysis

CannottestoutusingAPcredit QuantitativeReasoning1&2

OneQR/1classortwoQR/2

QR/1(numberlogicforhalfofcontent

(astronomy,physics…))



Additional3creditsofMathematicaland

SymbolicAnalysismay

beusedforArea

DistributionRequirement.

UniversityofFlorida(S) 6hours 6hours IBorAP Mathematicalsciences

3creditsofpuremath.Other3maycomefrom

statisticsorother.

UniversityofMaryland(S) 0course 1course ExemptionsfromtheMathematics

Requirement:

 SATMathscore600orabove;

OR

 APscoreof4orabovein

CalculusABorBC;OR

FundamentalMathorhigherlevelmathcanget

creditforfundamentalandrequirementfor

distributivestudies.

MathematicsandFormalReasoning–noformal

requirement.

GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20095|Page



 APscoreof4orabovein

StatisticseffectiveFall2004;OR

 CLEPCalculusExamscoreof50

orhigher.

PennsylvaniaState

University(S)

6credits 6credits AP–

IB‐

Quantification:CollegeofScience–8credits

LiberalArts‐

UniversityofWisconsin(S) 3credits 6credits AP–ifscoreforcalculuscouldsatisfy

both

PartA:3creditsofmathematics,statistics,or

formallogic.Studentsmaybeexemptedfrom

PartAbyapprovedcollegecourseworkwhilein

highschoolorbytesting.75%ofstudentsplace

outof

thisbasedonplacementtests.

PartB:3additionalcreditsinquantitative

reasoning.Calculusorquantitativereasoning,

researchmethods(invarietyofdisciplines)

UniversityofWashington

(Q)

4credits(one

course)

5credits(one

course)

APAB–3orhigher–firstquarter

Calculuscredit

APBC–2orhigher–firstquarter

Calculus

Stats–3orhigherAP

Quantitativeandsymbolicreasoning



ForeignLanguage

University MinimumRequirement MaximumRequirement Notes

OhioState(Q) 0‐20hours 

UniversityofArizona(S) Non‐BA degree: second‐

semesterskill

BA:Fourthsemesterskilllevel Waivedifstudentdemonstratesproficiencythroughscore

onAP,IBorCLEP.

UCLA(Q) Oneyearofproficiencyat

Level3

Level3 3,4,5APlanguage

Latin–4or5AP

Highschoolcoursesdonotcountautomatically.Musttake

placementexam.

UniversityofIllinois–Urbana

(S)

4courses Musttakecoursethroughthe4



semester.

4courses

University

–

3semestersrequired



CollegeofLASrequires4(3majorsareexceptionsandonly

GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20096|Page



require3).



Maydemonstrateproficiencyinforeignlanguagethrough

placementexam.

UniversityofMinnesota(S) CollegeofLiberalArtsB.A.

4courses



Recommendedforall

studentsbutnotrequired.

CollegeofLiberalArtsB.A.

4courses



PassingscoreonLanguageProficiencyExam(LPE)

UniversityofMichigan(S) 4

courseproficiencyby

placingoutofcourse.

courseproficiency Placementexamrequired.

APscoreof600orgreater

UniversityofFlorida(S) Studentsmustdemonstrate

proficiencyinforeign

language.

8‐10credits(firstyear)

8‐10credits–twosemesters StudentsmayplaceoutthroughAP,IB,SATordepartment

placementtest.

Notuniversitywide.

CollegeofLiberalArtsrequires

UniversityofMaryland(S)  NotauniversityrequirementbutisrequiredforCollegeof

Arts&Humanitiesattheintermediatelevel.Maybewaived

withhighschooltranscriptshowinglevel4foreignlanguage

orproficiencyexamfornativespeakers.

PennsylvaniaStateUniversity

(S)

creditproficiency 12

creditproficiency Somemajorsrequirenone,some8credits,andsome12

credits.

Waivedifstudenthas4ormoreyearsofhighschool

languageorAPorIBscores.



UniversityofWisconsin(S) Admissionsrequirement:2

yearsofhighschool.



NotGeneralEducation

requirement.Requiredfor

CollegeofLettersand

Sciences3courses

4or5courses(5wouldbe

requiredforB.A.combinationof

thirdleveloflanguageand

secondlevelofanother

language)

BS:Thirdlevelof

alanguage



BA:Fourthleveloflanguage,orThirdlevelofalanguageand

SecondLevelofanotherlanguage.Highschoolcoursescan

satisfythis.

UniversityofWashington(Q) 0 15 (Masteryrequirement)

AP–3orhigherformany

languages

Proficiencyorplacementtest.

Waivedfornativespeakersof

Dependsuponmajor.Requiredthroughthirdquarterfor

CollegeofArtsandSciences,theCollegeofEducation,and

theSchoolofSocialWork

GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20097|Page



anotherlanguage

3yearsoflanguagefromhigh

school



NaturalScience

University MinimumRequirement Maximum

Requirement

Notes

OhioState(Q) 15hoursforBA

20hoursforBS



UniversityofArizona(S) 3courses 3courses 1coursemustbeamorein‐depthexamination,knownasTierTwo.GEC

RequirementcanbemetforBachelorofSciencethroughcoursesinthe

major.Forpurposesofthisdiscussion,a3courseminimumisstill

requiredtofulfilltheGEC.



UCLA(Q) 4courses 4courses Fourcourses,twofromeachsubgroup.Onecoursefromeachsubgroup

mustincludealabordemonstrationorcarryWritingIIcredit.

 LifeSciences

 PhysicalSciences

UniversityofIllinois–Urbana

(S)

2courses 4courses CalledNaturalSciences&Technology:

 PhysicalSciences:1‐2courses

 LifeSciences:1‐2courses

UniversityofMinnesota(S) 8credits(2courseswithlabor

fieldexperience)

8credits(2courses

withlaborfield

experience)

Onecoursewithlaborfieldexperienceinthephysicalsciences

Onecoursewithlaborfieldexperienceinthebiologicalsciences



UniversityofMichigan(S) 7credits 10credits NaturalScience

UniversityofFlorida(S) 13credits 13credits 9isstatewiderequirement

LiberalArtsrequires6creditsfromPhysicaland6creditsfromBiological

Sciences,plus1labcredit

UniversityofMaryland(S) 10credits(3courses)

Onemustbealab

7maybeinscienceand3in

mathornoneinmath

 PhysicalSciences–atmosttwocourses

LifeSciences–atmosttwocourses

Mathematics&FormalReasoning–atmostonecourse–

optional

PennsylvaniaStateUniversity

(S)

9credits 9credits

GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20098|Page



UniversityofWisconsin(S) GenEd:4–6creditswithlab



LettersandScience:6credits

(BA)



Letters&Sciences:

12credits(BS)



LettersandSciences:HalfofcreditsmustcomefromBiologicalSciences

andhalfmustcomefromPhysicalSciences

UniversityofWashington(Q) 10credits 20credits TheNaturalWorld

CollegeofArtsandSciencesrequires75(includes15creditsofoverlap)



SocialScience

University MinimumRequirement Maximum

Requirement

Notes

OhioState(Q) 10hours 

UniversityofArizona(S) 3courses 3courses Individuals&Societies:3courses(onefromTier2)

UCLA(Q) 1course 2courses SocialAnalysis

UniversityofIllinois–Urbana

(S)

2courses 4courses SocialSciences:1‐2courses

BehavioralSciences:1‐2courses

UniversityofMinnesota(S) 6credits 6credits

UniversityofMichigan(S) 7credits 10credits

UniversityofFlorida(S) 9hours 9hours CalledSocialandBehavioralSciences

RequiredbystateandCollegeofLiberalArts

UniversityofMaryland(S) 6credits(twocourses) 6credits(two

courses)



PennsylvaniaStateUniversity

(S)

6credits 6credits CalledSocialandBehavioralSciences

UniversityofWisconsin(S) 3credits–General

Education

Letters&Sciences:12

hours



12hours

SocialStudies

UniversityofWashington(Q) 10credits 20credits IndividualsandSocieties–wouldincludehistory

CollegeofArtsandSciencesrequires75(includes15creditsof

overlap)



GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/20099|Page



Arts&Humanities

University Minimum

Requirement

Maximum

Requirement

Notes

OhioState(Q) 10hours 1. Literature,5hours

2. Visual/PerformingArts,5hours

3. CulturesandIdeas

4. AdditionalBreadth,10additionalhoursfromNaturalScience,

SocialScienceorArts&Humanities–outsideofmajor

UniversityofArizona(S) 2courses 3courses 1HumanitiescoursefromTierTwo

1‐2Artscourses(3units)fromTierTwo

UCLA(Q) 3courses 3courses Onecoursefromeach:

1. LiteraryandCulturalAnalysis

2. PhilosophicalandLinguisticAnalysis

3. VisualandPerformanceArtsAnalysisandPractice

UniversityofIllinois–

Urbana(S)

3courses 6courses LiteratureandtheArts:1‐2courses

HistoricalandPhilosophicalPerspectives:1‐2courses

WesternCultures:1‐2courses(ThismorecloselyadheredtoOhio

StateUniversity’sArts&Humanitiesrequirement.UofIllinoisusesa

largercategorycalledCulturalStudies,

whichincludesstudyofNon‐

WesternCulturesorU.S.MinorityCulturesWesternCultureswhichis

includedinDiversitybelow)

UniversityofMinnesota(S) 6credits 6credits Onecourseinliterature

Onecourseinotherhumanities

UniversityofMichigan(S) Humanities:7credits

CreativeExpression:3

credits

Humanities:7credits

CreativeExpression:3

credits



UniversityofFlorida(S) 9credits 9credits CalledHumanities

StaterequirementandCollegeofLiberalArts

UniversityofMaryland(S) 9credits 9credits 1coursemustbefromLiterature,

1mustbefromHistoryorTheoryoftheArts.

Humanitiesisoptional.

PennsylvaniaState

University(S)

12credits



12credits Arts:6credits

Humanities:6credits

UniversityofWisconsin(S) GenEd:6credits



6credits Humanities,Literature,Arts

GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/200910|Page



Letters&Sciences:12

credits(6mustbe

literature)

UniversityofWashington

(Q)

10credits 20credits Visual,Literary,andPerformingArts

CollegeofArtsandSciencesrequires75(includes15creditsof

overlap)



HistoricalStudy

University MinimumRequirement MaximumRequirement Notes

OhioState(Q) 10hours 

UniversityofArizona(S) 2courses 2courses TraditionsandCultures:bothfromTier1

UCLA(Q) 1course 2courses HistoricalAnalysis



OnecoursemustincludeAmericanHistory

andInstitutions–canbewaivedifstudent

receivedaBinarelatedcourseinhighschool.

UniversityofIllinois–Urbana

(S)

 

UniversityofMinnesota(S) 1course(3credits) 1course(3credits)

UniversityofMichigan(S)  

UniversityofFlorida(S)  FoundinHumanitiesbutnotexplicit

requirement

UniversityofMaryland(S) 3credits(1course) 3credits(1course) SocialorPoliticalHistory

PennsylvaniaStateUniversity

(S)

 WouldbeinHumanities

UniversityofWisconsin(S)  

UniversityofWashington(Q)  FoundinIndividualsandSocietiesbutnot

explicitrequirement



GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/200911|Page



Diversity

University MinimumRequirement MaximumRequirement Notes

OhioState(Q) 1courseinSocialDiversity

1courseinInternational

Issues

 Bothrequirementsmustbemet,butthecourse

mayoverlapwithanotherGECcourseora

coursewithinthestudent’smajor

UniversityofArizona(S) 1course 1course Gender,Race,Class,Ethnicity,Sexual

OrientationorNon‐WesternAreaStudies:May

befulfilledbyanotherGECcategory

UCLA(Q) 0 0

UniversityofIllinois–Urbana

(S)

1course 2courses CulturalStudies

Non‐WesternCulturesorU.S.MinorityCultures:

1‐2courses(doesnotneedtobeoneofeach)



UniversityofMinnesota(S) 2courses 2courses OnecourseofCulturaldiversity

OnecourseofInternationalperspectives

UniversityofMichigan(S) 1course 1course Race&Ethnicity

UniversityofFlorida(S) 6credits 6credits Diversity(cultureswithinUS)–3credits

International–3credits

UniversityofMaryland(S) 3credits(1course) 3credits(1course)

May be met by a distributed course. 

PennsylvaniaStateUniversity

(S)

6credits 6credits 3creditsinbothUnitedStatesCulturesand3

creditsinInternationalCultures.Couldbe

foldedintootherrequirements.

UniversityofWisconsin(S) 3credits 3credits EthnicStudies–maybefulfilledbyacoursethat

meetsanotherGECrequirement

UniversityofWashington(Q) 0 0



GeneralEducationCurriculum 6/8/200912|Page



IssuesofContemporaryWorld

University Minimum

Requirement

Maximum

Requirement

Notes

OhioState(Q) 5hours RequiredforBAbutnotforBS

UniversityofArizona(S)  

UCLA(Q)

UniversityofIllinois–Urbana

(S)



UniversityofMinnesota(S) 2courses(3credits

each)

2courses OnecourseofEnvironment

OnecourseofCitizenshipandpublicethics

UniversityofMichigan(S)  

UniversityofFlorida(S)  

UniversityofMaryland(S) 0hours 0hours InterdisciplinaryandEmergingIssues(IE):Optionalcategory

PennsylvaniaStateUniversity

(S)



UniversityofWisconsin(S)  

UniversityofWashington(Q)  



PhysicalActivity

PennsylvaniaStateUniversityrequires3creditsofHealthandPhysicalActivity.Class,lectureoractivity.



