General Education courses comprise approximately one-third of a student’s academic program, or 33-52 units out of the 120 units needed to graduate. General Education includes Foundations courses in English composition, mathematics and second language, as well as Tier One and Tier Two courses.

Six units of English composition, three units in mathematics, and fourth semester proficiency in a foreign language are required for humanities students. In addition, two courses within each of the Tier One strands, INDV (Individuals and Societies), NATS (Natural Sciences), and TRAD (Traditions and Cultures) are required. Within the Tier Two strands, three units in Arts, one course in Individuals and Societies, and one course in Natural Sciences are required.

The English Writing Program within the college teaches virtually all first year students in English Composition courses, and the departments of Classics, East Asian Studies, French and Italian, German Studies, Russian and Slavic Studies, and Spanish and Portuguese offer courses to meet the university’s requirements for second language.