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General Education Requirements

General Education Program

What is General Education? . . .

MSU’s General Education program consists of a collection of courses that all undergraduate students are required to take – in addition to coursework in their major. There are two parts of our program, known as GenEd 2002: Core requirements and Distribution requirements.

The Core courses – New Student Seminar, Scientific Issues, and National and Global Issues – are a special feature of GenEd 2002 that give students a common academic experience and provide an interdisciplinary perspective.

The Distribution requirements cover several areas of study – writing and speech; the arts and humanities; math, science, and computer science; physical education; and the social sciences.

. . . and why am I required to take it?

General Education is the core of the educational experience at Montclair State University.

It gives you a common academic experience that you share with your fellow students.

It provides you with a firm foundation of knowledge and “cultural literacy” in both traditional and contemporary fields of study.

It prepares you for the working world where employers repeatedly report that what they value most highly in new employees are: a) excellent communications skills, b) exceptional analytic skills, and c) the ability to understand and think critically about complex issues.

In response to the challenges we know students will face both academically at the university and professionally when they enter the workforce, MSU faculty reviewed and revised our general education program in the late 1990s. Faculty then designed GenEd 2002 as a program that would provide students with . . .

  • Writing, writing, and more writing skills
  • A solid base of knowledge
  • Critical thinking skills
  • Problem solving skills
  • The ability to retrieve and evaluate information
  • An understanding of our democratic processes
  • Multicultural and transnational awareness
  • Awareness of issues related to diversity
  • An understanding of world and national issues
  • Ethical decision-making skills

Before any course can be included in the GenEd 2002 program, it has to go through a thorough review by a faculty committee in order to ensure that it will provide students with these ten basic skills and abilities. Some courses provide certain of these skills more than others: College Writing may emphasize writing skills more than it will ethical decision-making, for example. But as a body of courses, the General Education program prepares you for more in-depth study in your major while also preparing you for a career.

What are MSU’s General Education Requirements?

At Montclair State, we require that students complete General Education coursework in several main areas of study: writing and speech; the arts and the humanities; math, science, and computer science; physical education; and the social sciences. The current GenEd 2002 requirements and courses may be found here

What are the “Core Courses” in GenEd 2002?

The GenEd 2002 Core consists of the New Student Seminar and two required interdisciplinary courses. Taken together, these courses form the heart of the Montclair Experience.

New Student Seminar (category A)

The New Student Seminar (GNED 199 or its equivalent in your major) is designed to enable you to achieve academic success and to adjust successfully to the challenges of college life. This one-hour course must be taken in your first semester.

Interdisciplinary Core courses

The Interdisciplinary Core courses focus on some of the most significant issues of our time, in two categories: Scientific Issues and National and Global Issues. These courses will raise your awareness about what it means to be a responsible citizen of your community, the U.S., and the world. You must take a Scientific Issues course and you must choose between National Issues or Global Issues. You should begin taking these courses in your sophomore year.

Scientific Issues (category B1)

These courses are designed to emphasize contemporary issues involving the application of the natural and/or physical sciences. Students completing one of these courses will achieve an expanded understanding of the application of scientific knowledge and methodology to address issues, problems, and decisions facing contemporary society.

National and Global Issues (Category B2)

National and Global Issues courses examine an important contemporary issue in the U.S. and throughout the globe, such as class, ethnicity, gender, immigration and  migration, justice, artistic expression, environmental sustainability, political development and economic change, public health, or world poverty. Faculty from two different disciplines will team-teach these courses.

Please explain the Interdisciplinary Core requirement -- GNED 201, GNED 202, and GNED 303.

The current GenEd Interdisciplinary Core requirement specifies that students take one course from the Scientific Issues (B1) category  and one from the National and Global Issues (B2) category.

Transfer students and students who entered MSU before Fall 2006 may have different requirements as detailed here.

Please remember to consult your record of academic progress online -- your "academic audit"on WESS -- to determine whether you have these or other requirements to fulfill.

GenEd requirements are detailed here. (After the jump, follow the link to your particular degree.)