Program Overview

General Education Program

The General Education program at Weber State University is designed to provide students with a broad academic perspective and exposure to areas and subjects outside of their chosen discipline.

General Education Requirements

Students can choose from a variety of courses in each of 5 core and 3 breadth areas. Gen Ed credits (27) account for about 45% of the Associate's and 23% of the Bachelor's degrees.

What is General Education?

General Education is a series of courses designed to provide students with a broad academic perspective and exposure to areas and subjects outside of their chosen discipline.

Why is General Education Required?

As important as a student's major is, it does not provide all the general cognitive skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in life, on the job, and in the major. The skills gained in general education include those that most employers say they want, such as oral communication, writing, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

General Education and Your Future

In short, yes, General Education can help students get a job. According to Norman R. Augustine, Former Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, "Individuals who are creative, innovative, constructive change agents, and who have broad perspectives, are highly valued." These are skills that are incubated throughout a student's General Education program.

General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs)

There are four GELOs addressed in every Gen Ed course:

1. Content knowledge - this outcome addresses students' understanding of the worlds in which they live and disciplinary approaches for analyzing those worlds.
2. Intellectual tools - the focus of this outcome is on students' use of and facility with skills necessary to construct knowledge, evaluate claims, solve problems, and communicate effectively.
3. Responsibility to self and others - this outcome highlights students' relationships with, obligations to, and sustainable stewardship of themselves, others, and the world.
4. Connected and applied learning - this outcome emphasizes how students' learning in general education classes can be connected and applied in meaningful ways to new settings and complex problems.

Signature Assignments and Big Questions

Every General Education course will require students to complete a signature assignment - or SA - that gives students the opportunity to demonstrate their fluency with the program outcomes (GELOs). SAs vary in complexity and format, and are designed by the faculty as a means of evaluating student competency of the GELOs.

General Education Attribute Transfer Petition Process

In their articulation of transfer credits from other institutions of higher education, students may have courses that lack an equivalent at Weber State or that transfer as courses without Gen Ed attributes. The transfer course may be articulated as departmental (e.g., MATH 1XXX) or general (e.g., ELEC 1XXX) elective, that may or may not have an associated Gen Ed attribute. Although students may appeal transfer decisions to the department chair/articulator, they also may appeal the Gen Ed attribute decisions to the Director of General Education on the grounds that their transfer course, while articulating as departmental or general elective credit, nonetheless satisfies Gen Ed core and/or breadth attributes (i.e., COMP, AI, QL, IL, DV, SS, HU, CA, PS, LS) at WSU.

General Education Certificate of Completion

If a student intends to transfer prior to completing an Associate's degree, they are strongly encouraged to complete the General Education Certificate of Completion. The Certificate is awarded when students complete all core and breadth requirements with a minimum of 2.0 GPA. Once awarded, it will appear on the student's transcript and is part of their official record. The Certificate allows students to "lock in" their Gen Ed credits and is transferable between institutions in the Utah System of Higher Education.