General Education Requirements

For students starting at the University of Arizona in Spring 2022 or after

What is General Education?

At the University of Arizona, a Degree consists of at least 120 units of credit. General Education (GE), along with your Major and Minor, is a basic part of your Degree Requirements.

The New GE Program

The new gen ed program emphasizes interdisciplinary thinking, perspective-taking, and reflection. Through engaged learning, the new program will elevate the relevance and transferability of coursework, encouraging students to build connections between courses and their professional and academic goals. Students must complete 32 units distributed across six course categories, as seen below. With the exception of UNIV 101 and 301, course categories can be taken in any order.

UNIV 101

UNIV 101: Introduction to the General Education Experience (1 course, 1 unit) helps students understand, reflect on, and be able to articulate the purpose and value of their gen ed courses. Students who are classified as first-year students at the point of admission will be required to take UNIV 101; all other new U of A students (including transfer and readmitted students) will have the option of taking UNIV 101.

Foundations

Foundations (3 courses, 9 units*) include Math, Writing, and Second Languages. These courses engage students in critical thinking and prepare them for future college work.

*The number of units is variable depending on method of meeting writing & second language requirements.

Exploring Perspectives

In Exploring Perspectives (4 courses, 12 units), students explore and practice the approaches and ways of reasoning of the Artist, Humanist, Natural Scientist, and Social Scientist.

Building Connections

In Building Connections (2 courses, 6 units), students explore the unique contributions of knowledge, skills, methodologies, values and perspectives from varied disciplines, social positions, and perspectives.

Civic Institutions

Civic Institutions (1 course, 3 units) provide students a breadth exploration of Civics. CI courses utilize interdisciplinary and multi-perspective approaches to thinking about foundational systems and institutions that make up and shape the United States. Through exploration of systems, institutions, and roles- students understand the foundational, economic, logistical, and philosophical pillars that not only shape a nation, but also the experiences of groups and individuals within society.

UNIV 301

UNIV 301: General Education Portfolio (1 course, 1 unit) helps students reflect upon and make meaning of their GE experience through the refinement of their ePortfolio. Students who are classified as first-year students at the point of admission will be required to take UNIV 301; all other new UArizona students (including transfer and readmitted students) will have the option of taking UNIV 301.

Attributes

All Exploring Perspectives and Building Connections courses carry 1-2 Attributes. Attributes do not carry additional units; instead, Attributes indicate the skills, methodologies, and/or contexts that frame the course content.

Understanding & Valuing Difference

Classes with the Understanding & Valuing Difference prepare learners to enter and meet the demands of an ever-changing world with the necessary awareness, knowledge, and skills to embrace, respect, and value the strength of difference across all of humanity.

Quantitative Reasoning

While students are exposed to mathematical skills in their Foundations math courses, GE courses that carry a Quantitative Reasoning attribute aim to apply those mathematical skills to questions, ideas, challenges, and/or problems that are relevant to students, society, and/or the world.

World Cultures & Societies

Courses with the World Cultures & Societies Attribute will focus on a broad array of questions that shape our global community, both past and present. Courses with a WCS Attribute will introduce students to the values, practices, and/or cultural products of at least one non-U.S. culture and/or society (whether historically or today).

Writing

In Writing Attribute GE courses, students are expected to engage ways of doing and knowing as artists, humanists, social scientists, scientists, interdisciplinary thinkers, community contributors, or disciplinary problem solvers and innovative designers. Writing is a means for learning in Writing Attribute courses, and as such, writing activities in these courses promote principles of writing development

Civic Exploration

The Civic Exploration Attribute helps equip students with the abilities, knowledge, and skills necessary to lead active roles in their communities whether locally, nationally, or globally.