General Education Requirements:
B.A. and B.S. Degree Programs

School of Humanities
School of Natural and Social Sciences
Interdisciplinary Studies
School of the Arts: Arts Management B.A. Program

SUNY and Purchase College general education requirements are fulfilled in the B.A. and B.S. degree programs (excluding liberal studies) as follows. With the exception of the humanities requirement, certain approved courses may be used to fulfill two general education requirements. For more information, refer to Courses That Fulfill General Education Requirements.

For the most current list of approved courses in each category, students should consult each semester’s online course schedule at studentservices.purchase.edu and the annual Liberal Arts and Sciences Handbook.

General Education Knowledge Areas

1. Basic Communication:
   LWR 1110/College Writing—freshman year
2. Western Civilization:
   For freshmen, FRS 1000 and 1001/Culture and Society in the West I and II; for most transfer students, either through transfer work or an approved course in Western civilization.
3. Humanities:
   For freshmen, FRS 1000 and 1001/Culture and Society in the West I and II; for most transfer students, either through transfer work or an approved course in the humanities.
4. American History:
   An approved course in American history.
5. The Arts:
   An approved course in the visual or performing arts (2-4 credits).
6. Natural Science:
   For freshmen (except those who have declared a major in biology, chemistry, or environmental studies), FRS 1200/Science in the Modern World; for all other students, an approved course in the natural sciences.
7. Social Science:
   An approved course in the social sciences.
8. Other World Civilizations:
   An approved course in other world civilizations.
9. Mathematics:
   Fulfillment of the mathematics proficiency requirement, plus an approved course in mathematics.
10. Foreign Languages:
    This requirement is satisfied by one of the following:
    
    • passing a minimum of three years of Regents-level high school study of a single foreign language and receiving a score of 85 on the Regents exam or its equivalent
    • a score of at least 3 on an advanced placement exam
    • passing the College-administered language proficiency exam
    • passing one year (two semesters) of study in a foreign language at another college or passing a College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exam
    • passing one year (two semesters, Beginning I and II) of study in a foreign language at Purchase College (credit is only awarded for Beginning I upon completion of Beginning II)
11. Focus on Race and Gender:
    At least one approved course in race and/or gender.
12. Physical Education/Health:
    At least one approved course in physical education/health (2 credits).

General Education Skill Areas
In addition, the SUNY general education program requires fulfillment of two areas of competency:

1. Critical Thinking (reasoning):
   Students fulfill this by passing LWR 1110/College Writing or its equivalent, plus a variety of courses across the curriculum in which students identify, analyze, and evaluate arguments as they occur in their own or others’ work, and in which they are required to produce well-reasoned arguments.
    
   
2. Information Management:
   Students fulfill this by passing LWR 1110/College Writing or its equivalent, a course in quantitative analysis, and a variety of courses across the curriculum that emphasize the management of information, research techniques, and the location, evaluation, and synthesis of information from a variety of sources.

Updated June 18, 2008

| << Gen. Ed. home