Shanny Luft, Associate Dean of University College
Room 439 CCC
Phone: 715-346-4023
Email: sluft@uwsp.edu

Web: http://www.uwsp.edu/gep/Pages/default.aspx

The Core General Education Requirements (CGER) provides the framework of a liberal education, equipping you with the knowledge and skills to facilitate intellectual and personal growth, pursue your advanced studies, and improve the world in which you live.

For information on past General Degree Requirements, please refer to the Fall 2025 catalog.

Relationship Between CGER and Degree Types

The CGER applies to all Baccalaureate and Associate degree types. See the Bachelor's Degrees section of this Catalog.

CGER Learning Outcomes

The Core General Education Requirements seeks to develop these qualities of global citizenship in three distinct ways. After completing the general education curriculum, you will:

• Demonstrate critical thinking, quantitative, and communication skills necessary to succeed in a rapidly changing global society.

• Demonstrate broad knowledge of the physical, social, and cultural worlds as well as the methods by which this knowledge is produced.

• Recognize that responsible global citizenship involves personal accountability, social equity, and environmental sustainability.

Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (3 credits)

Quantitative reasoning is knowledge of and confidence with basic mathematical/analytical concepts and operations required for problem-solving, decision-making, economic productivity and real-world applications. Such skills are essential for citizens living in today’s global society.

All Quantitative reason courses have a prerequisite of MATH 90 or higher. If you have a math placement of PC, TRIG, or CALC, your placement satisfies the Quantitative reasoning requirement and no coursework is required. See the Mathematical Sciences department page for more information on placement testing.

Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

• Select, analyze, and interpret appropriate numerical data used in everyday life in numerical and graphical format.

• Identify and apply appropriate strategies of quantitative problem solving in theoretical and practical applications.

• Construct a conclusion using quantitative justification.

Communication and Literacy (9 credits)

You will complete a total of 9 credits in Written Communication and Literacy Category: 3-6 in the Written Communication subcategory and 3-6 in the Critical Thinking subcategory depending upon your Written Communication placement.

Written Communication (3-6 credits depending on placement)

Introductory writing classes provide an essential foundation of communication skills on which you can build throughout the rest of your university careers and beyond. They develop your skills in analyzing an audience, making rhetorical decisions to meet audience needs and writing purpose, structuring written documents, and understanding and applying the conventions of effective writing. Subsequent writing courses build upon these skills by helping you learn to locate sources, critically analyze information, and synthesize your ideas with those of others to write well-supported academic arguments. These courses also provide an essential starting point for the more specialized writing you will be expected to do in the future within your field of study.

Pathways to satisfying the Written Communication Subcategory:

1. The Written Communication outcomes are typically satisfied by ENGL 101 - Academic Reading and Writing and ENGL 202 - Academic Writing and Research (6 credits in Written Communication.) ENGL 101 should be taken during your first year. ENGL 202 should be taken during your sophomore year and will have a perquisite of ENGL 101.

2. Students with a high school GPA of 3.00 or higher and an ACT English sub score of 24 or above or that have a high school GPA of 3.50 or higher and an ACT English sub score of 23 will instead satisfy the Written Communication subcategory requirement by completing ENGL 150 - Accelerated Reading, Writing, and Research. These students will need to complete 3 credits in Written Communication (ENGL 150) and 6 credits of Critical Thinking to satisfy the 9 required credits in the Written Communication and Literacy CGER category.

3. Students receiving a 3 or higher score on the AP English Test or a 4 or higher score on the IB Exam will earn 3 credits for English 101 and will complete English 150 instead of ENGL 202, for 6 credits in the Written Communication subcategory (AP ENGL 101 3cr.+ENGL 150 3cr.=6cr.). These students will need 3 additional credits of Critical Thinking to meet the 9 credit total requirement for the Written Communication and Literacy CGER Category. Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

   • Compose an articulate, thoughtful, grammatically correct, and logically organized piece of writing with properly documented and supported ideas, evidence, and information suitable to the topic, purpose, genre, and audience.

   • Apply your understanding of elements that shape successful writing to critique and improve your own and others’ writing through effective and useful feedback.

Critical Thinking (3-6 credits)

Critical Thinking is an essential part of a liberal education. Learning to think critically requires looking beyond the knowledge claims that characterize a subject to appreciate the justifications that are given for those knowledge claims. Critical Thinking courses taken early in a student’s college career help students develop a skill set that they will use throughout their college career, and beyond.

Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

• Recognize critical thinking as a process of identifying, analyzing, evaluating, and constructing reasoning in deciding what conclusions to draw (argumentation) or actions to take (decision-making and problem-solving).

• Identify, analyze, evaluate, and construct reasoning as it is applied to general or discipline-specific questions or issues.

• Communicate the analysis, evaluation, or construction of reasoning orally, visually, or in writing.

Social and Behavioral Science (6 credits)

• Take one: Social Science (3 credits)

• Take one: Historical Perspectives (3 credits)

Social Sciences (3 credits)

The social sciences provide you with an understanding of humans and their behavior as individuals and within communities, institutions, and social structures. Courses in this category equip you to contribute to public discourse and function as responsible citizens of your profession and community.

Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

• Explain or apply major concepts, methods, or theories used in the social sciences to investigate, analyze, or predict human behavior.

• Examine and explain how social, cultural, or political institutions influence individuals or groups.

Historical Perspectives (3 credits)

An understanding of the past and the methods by which people seek to explain it are essential to finding meaning in the present. By exploring the evolution of human societies-their institutions, ideas, and values-you gain a framework for understanding yourself and the world; and you learn to make connections between history and the natural sciences, the social sciences, the arts, and the humanities.

Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

• Use primary sources as evidence to answer questions about historical change.

• Describe differences among interpretations of the past.

• Analyze institutional and cultural changes in one or more human societies over time.

Humanities and Arts (6 credits)

• Take one: Humanities (3 credits)

• Take one: Arts (3 credits)

Humanities (3 credits)

The humanities courses explore the fundamental ideas and values shaping cultures and civilization, in life and as represented in the written word, using scholarly approaches that are primarily analytical, critical, or interpretive. By introducing you to concepts and beliefs within and outside your own perspectives, courses in the humanities help you to understand and critically engage a variety of worldviews and the ideas that give them meaning.

Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

• Read closely, think critically, and write effectively about texts or cultural artifacts that reflect on perennial questions concerning the human condition (such as the search for truth and meaning, the confrontation with suffering and mortality, or the struggle for justice, equality, and human dignity).

• Investigate and thoughtfully respond to a variety of ideas, beliefs, or values held by persons in situations other than one’s own.

Arts (3 credits)

The arts celebrate the human capacity to imagine, to create, and to transform ideas into expressive forms. The arts provide us with a rich record of human cultures and values throughout time. They enable us to understand and enjoy the experience of our senses and to sharpen our aesthetic sense. Courses in the arts examine the process of creativity and explore the artistic imagination or the relationship between artists, their works, and the societies in which their works are produced. The arts challenge us to understand creativity and the distinctive intellectual process of the human imagination.

Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

• Describe, analyze, or critique creative works or cultural artifacts that reflect the human desire for beauty, order, or meaning.

• Do at least ONE of the following:

  1. Identify and explain the relationship between particular traditions or genres of creative expression and their social, historical, or cultural contexts.

  2. Demonstrate an understanding of creative expression by producing or performing a creative work.

Natural Science and Wellness (4 credits)

• 4 or more credits in Natural Science with a lab; or

• 3 credits in Natural Science with a lab plus 1 credit of Wellness

Natural Sciences (3-4 credits)

As the progress of our society becomes more dependent on science and technology, our future becomes increasingly dependent upon a scientifically literate population. Individuals today must be sufficiently knowledgeable about scientific facts, science applications, and the process of scientific inquiry in order to make reasoned decisions concerning their use in addressing society’s problems. Courses in this area must contain a laboratory component to help you develop an understanding of scientific inquiry.

Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

• Interpret information, solve problems, and make decisions by applying natural science concepts, methods, and quantitative techniques.

• Explain major concepts, methods, or theories used in the natural sciences to investigate the physical world.

• Describe the relevance of some aspect of the natural science to your life and society.

Wellness (0-1 credit)

Wellness is a dynamic process of becoming aware of and making conscious choices toward a more balanced and healthy lifestyle. It is multi-dimensional and holistic, encompassing lifestyle, mental and spiritual well being, and the environment. Wellness is an attribute of a well-rounded, liberally educated person and of strong societies. Understanding the dimensions of wellness and their impact on individuals, families, and societies is important for being a responsible global citizen.

Upon completing this requirement, you will be able to:

• Assess your own wellness in each of the seven dimensions of wellness and explain how the dimensions and the interactions among them impact your overall personal health and well-being.

• Develop an individual plan for healthy living that demonstrates an understanding of the principles of wellness.

Civics and Perspectives (6 credits)

Civics and Perspectives courses will explore the foundations of civic life and broaden students’ understanding of human experiences through societal, cultural, political, or environmental lenses.

Due to Universities of Wisconsin transfer policies, it may be possible for transfer students to complete all six categories with less than the required minimum 10 courses and 30 credits. In those cases, students can fulfill the course and/or credit hour requirement by selecting a course(s) that fulfills any Core General Education Requirement Category. Students must complete a minimum 10 courses and 30 credits.