General Education Distribution Requirements, Undergraduate
Undergraduate Degrees
Basic to an undergraduate education is a foundation of general education. The University requires all candidates for undergraduate degrees to satisfy general education requirements:
All undergraduate degree candidates are required to satisfy the following general education courses:
| College Composition I |
5 quarter credits |
|
| College Composition II |
5 quarter credits |
|
| Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning |
5 quarter credits |
|
Associate Degree candidates are required to satisfy the following general education distributions:
| Social Sciences |
5 quarter credits* |
| Natural Sciences/Mathematics |
5 quarter credits* |
Bachelor Degree candidates are required to satisfy the following general education distributions:
| Humanities |
10 quarter credits* |
| Social Sciences |
15 quarter credits* |
| Natural Sciences/Mathematics |
15 quarter credits* |
*Some credits may be satisfied with required courses that are part of the student's program.
In order to fulfill the College Composition II requirement, students must achieve a minimum grade of 2.0 in the designated College Composition course for transfer or through completion at CityU. Students who have an approved waiver for College Composition I are required to complete an additional 5 credits of humanities.
All degree programs require completion of Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning. Programs require specific courses to meet this requirement and are listed on the specific degree pages in the catalog. For transfer of this requirement, students must have earned a minimum course grade of 2.0 from the school at which the requirement was completed.
In the School of Education and Leadership the general education courses covering college composition and college mathematics are admission requirements.
Exceptions to Policy
Bachelor of Arts in Education majors enrolled in a program leading to a Washington state teaching certificate or endorsement require a minimum per course grade of 2.0 in each course taken at City University of Seattle or by transfer to meet the Washington state certification requirements.
Per Canadian regulations, undergraduate students studying in Canada will have courses evaluated on a course-by-course basis and such student will have had to earn a course grade of 20 (C) or higher to be eligible for transfer.
General education credit and distribution requirements cannot be waived. Exceptions to courses applied to the required distributions may be made by the Provost.
General Education Disciplines
College Composition
A course fulfilling the college composition requirements must stress written communication and be equivalent to the university's designated college composition courses, ENG 101 English Composition I and ENG 102 English Composition II, and must be taught in English.
QSR/Symbolic Reasoning
A course fulfilling Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning requirement must be equivalent to the university' designated requirement course for the specific degree program. Examples of Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning (QSR) include college level mathematics (e.g. Algebra, Calculus, or a logic course that includes Venn diagrams and Aristotelian logic).
Humanities, Social Science, and Natural Science/Mathematics
When the credit requirements for a discipline exceeds five credits, students must complete courses in at least two separate disciplines within the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences/mathematics categories. Examples of courses within each discipline include:
| Humanities |
Social Sciences |
Natural Sciences/Mathematics |
| Communication |
Anthropology |
Astronomy |
| Drama/Theater |
Economics |
Biology |
| Ethics |
Ethics |
Botany
|
| History* |
Ethnic Studies |
Chemistry |
| Languages |
Geography |
Computer Sciences |
| Literature |
History |
Geology |
| Music |
Linguistics |
Mathematics |
| Philosophy/Logic |
Political Science |
Meteorology |
| Religion |
Psychology |
Oceanography |
| Speech |
Sociology |
Physics |
| |
|
Quantitative Logic |
| |
|
Statistics |
* History may be applied to Humanities if the institution at which the course was taken has defined it as meeting Humanities or by review of the CityU Registrar and general education director.
General education credit requirements may be fulfilled in all of the following ways:
- CityU lower- or upper-division courses, if designated by the University as applicable to general education. Some undergraduate programs allow students to satisfy certain general education requirements through upper-division coursework.
- Courses completed at other recognized institutions.
- Standardized examinations in appropriate subjects.
- Prior learning assessment (PLA).
Prerequisites for Entry into Upper-Division Coursework
Undergraduate students seeking degrees and certificates are required to demonstrate that they have met the requirements for college composition and QSR/Symbolic Reasoning as defined in the CityU catalog prior to enrolling in upper-division coursework. This may be done in any of the following ways:
- Successful completion of CityU courses designated as meeting college composition and QSR requirements.
- Transfer of directly equivalent course from other accredited or recognized institutions.
- Achievement of acceptable scores on standardized examinations, such as CLEP and DANTES, in the appropriate subjects.
- Course Challenges.
General Education credit and distribution requirements cannot be waived. Exceptions to courses applied to the required distributions may be made by the Provost.
(Policy #3100.02)