Undergraduate Studies

General Requirements for Undergraduate Degrees

General Education Core for All IU Southeast Baccalaureate Degrees

In 2012, Indiana enacted Senate Enrolled Act 182, thereby establishing the requirements for a Statewide Transfer General Education Core of at least 30 credit hours.  The statute states that the Core must be based upon a set of competencies (stated below) in areas agreed upon by the state educational institutions.

Effective Fall 2013, IU Southeast instituted the updated Statewide Transfer General Education Core for all incoming students.  General education at IU Southeast includes campus-wide requirements, which apply to all baccalaureate degrees, and requirements that are specific to each degree. Some degrees have extensive general education requirements of their own, whereas others have relatively few requirements beyond those established by the campus.

The purpose of this section is to describe the campus-wide general education program and its requirements. Requirements that are specific to each degree are set out in the section that describes that degree.

In many cases, a requirement states that students must choose courses from a list of approved courses. Students should consult their advisors or visit https://www.ius.edu/general-education/ for the most up-to-date list of approved courses.

1. Written Communication (6 credit hours)

Students are required to take ENG-W 131 (Reading, Writing, & Inquiry I) or HON-H 103, and one second level course, selected on the basis of their major, from the list of approved courses. Students should consult with their advisor to determine which second course is appropriate for their intended major.

  • Placement in English Composition  In order to enter ENG-W 131, a student must first complete the Writing Placement process administered by the Student Development Center. On the basis of the results, the student will be placed in the appropriate writing course. The placement process is administered throughout the year and by appointment. Students must pass ENG-W 131 with a grade of C or higher.
  • Exemption  Students who desire an exemption with or without credit from ENG-W 131 should consult the Writing Program Coordinators. All requests for exemption and credit for this course should be made within the student’s first 30 credit hours of course work at Indiana University Southeast.
2. Oral Communication (3 credit hours)

Students are required to complete one course from the list of approved courses.

3. Quantitative Reasoning (3 credit hours)

Students are required to complete one course from the list of approved courses.
Note: Degree programs vary significantly in the level of mathematical preparation they require for successful completion. Students should take this into consideration when choosing courses to meet this requirement.

  • Placement  In order to enter a mathematics course, a student must first take a placement test, administered by the Student Development Center. On the basis of this score, the student will be placed in a course that best matches his or her knowledge of mathematics. The test is given throughout the year and by appointment.
  • Exemption A student may achieve exemption from the mathematics requirement by earning a sufficiently high score, as determined by the mathematics faculty, on the ACT or Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT), or by testing out of the appropriate class. For more information, see the dean of natural sciences.
4. Information Literacy Library Instruction (1 credit hour)

Students are required to take COAS-S 104, First-Year Seminar.

5. Central Ideas, Issues, and Methods of Inquiry (11 total credit hours)
  • Students are required to take one course in either the Humanities or the Arts from the list of approved courses in those disciplines (3 credits).
  • Students are required to take one course, with a lab component, from the list of approved courses in the Natural and Physical Sciences. In some instances, a student may use separate lecture and lab classes to meet this requirement; consult your advisor for more information (5 credits).
  • Students are required to take one course from the list of approved courses in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 credits).
6. Additional Arts, Humanities, Social/Behavioral Science requirement (3 credit hours)

Students are required to complete one course from the list of approved courses. The course chosen cannot be from the same discipline as any of the courses chosen in item 5 (above).

7. Reasoning about Moral and Ethical Issues or Diversity (3 credit hours)

Students are required to complete one course from the list of approved courses.

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