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General Education
General Education Program: New for Fall 2024
The General Education Program creates life-long learners prepared for success in their personal and civic lives. While a major prepares students for their chosen career path, the General Education Program equips students with the skills and knowledge that make them more adaptable in a fast-evolving job market.
The program is divided amongst three areas:
The first, Intellectual and Practical Skills, equips students with broad, transferable skills that are crucial not only to their academic success but also to their future careers and civic lives. These skills include critical thinking, enabling students to construct well-reasoned arguments and solve problems creatively; written and oral communication, fostering the clear and effective expression of ideas; quantitative literacy, promoting the interpretation and application of numerical information in various contexts; and information literacy, teaching students to locate, evaluate, and ethically use information.
The second, Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Natural World, teaches students the intricacies of human behavior, social structures, and the principles governing natural phenomena. Through the study of histories, values, languages, and ideas of various cultures, students gain a deeper understanding of the human experience, fostering empathy and global awareness. Complementary to this, understanding the physical and natural world involves scientific inquiry, fostering an understanding of the principles and concepts governing our environment and universe. The amalgamation of these studies equips students to make informed and ethical decisions, preparing them to address the complex, interconnected challenges of the 21st century effectively.
The third, Integrated and Applied Learning, teaches students how to apply the knowledge they have acquired through diverse areas of study, both within and beyond academia. This outcome encourages students to synthesize their learnings from general and specialized studies, applying this integrated knowledge to complex, real-world problems. Particularly relevant is the application of knowledge acquired through civic engagement-oriented courses, encouraging students to actively apply their academic learnings to civic issues. This outcome thus fosters adaptable learners, equipped to address the complexities of the professional world and contribute effectively to civic life.
The following are required for new students entering the university from fall 2024 onwards. Students who entered before fall 2024 may elect to migrate to this new program. If they do not migrate, they follow the requirements in place during their term of entry. Transfer students with an earned A.A, A.S, B.A, or B.S from an accredited university are waived the entire General Education program. Transfer students with 60 or more earned credits are waived the Integrative and Applied Learning requirements.
Intellectual and Practical Skills
- Take ENGL 101 & 102 (or ESL 101 & 102, or ESL 115 &116)*
- Take MATH 114, 140, 164, or 175**
- Take one Oral Communication Course
- Take one Technological Competency (and/or Information Literacy Course)
Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Natural World
- Take one course in Scientific Knowledge
- Take one course in Society and Human Behavior
- Take one course in the Humanistic Perspectives
- Take one course in Historical Perspectives
- Take one course in Global and Cultural Awareness
Integrative and Applied Learning
(Waived for transfers with 60 or more prior earned credits)
- Take one Capstone Seminar
- Take one Civic Engagement Course
Notes
* Students may take ESL 101 and ESL 102, or ESL 115 and ESL 116. Some students are also required to take a foundational course.
** The required Math course and associated sequence varies by students’ meta-major as follows:
NJCU’s new General Education Program was designed to honor and build upon the work that transfer students have completed in General Education programs throughout NJ’s Community Colleges, breaking down barriers to access. As such, all courses approved for General Education programs at Community Colleges throughout the state of NJ are accepted at NJCU as well. The only exception concerns a few Math and English courses, many of which will satisfy pre-requisites to NJCU’s required Math and English courses.
The program also offers courses unique to NJCU, especially under the Civic Engagement and Capstone requirement. You can find a full list of course available in a given academic year by using the following link.