General Requirements for Graduation with a Baccalaureate Degree
The university has established General Education requirements for all baccalaureate degrees. A general education results in the acquisition of a common body of essential knowledge and skills that together facilitate the development of students as individuals and as members of communities. Through the Texas Core Curriculum, students will prepare for contemporary challenges by developing and demonstrating the following core objectives:
- Critical Thinking Skills - to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information;
- Communication Skills - to include effective development, interpretation, and expression of ideas through written, oral, and visual communication;
- Empirical and Quantitative Skills - to include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions;
- Teamwork - to include the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal;
- Personal Responsibility - to include the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision-making; and
- Social Responsibility - to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.
Students are strongly advised to consult their individual degree plans and academic advisers for any specific requirements for their majors within the General Education curriculum. Students are also advised to consult the online catalog for any additions to the course offerings. Some courses are listed in two areas; a student may count such a course in either area, but not both. That common body of essential knowledge and skills shall include each of the following component areas and must equal 42 semester credit hours:
Communication
Rhetoric/Composition
Required: 6 semester credit hours
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENGL 1301 | Composition I | 3 |
| ENGL 1302 | Composition II | 3 |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 6 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Teamwork and Personal Responsibility
Mathematics
Required: 3 semester credit hours
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 1 of the following: | 3 | |
| College Algebra | ||
| Trigonometry | ||
| Math for Bus and Econ I | ||
| Contemporary Mathematics | ||
| Elementary Statistical Methods | ||
| Analytic Geometry | ||
| Precalculus | ||
| Calculus I 1 | ||
| Introduction to Logic | ||
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 3 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills and Empirical and Quantitative Skills
- 1
The Mathematics core area requires 3 credit hours of Mathematics; and, the Life/Physical Science core area requires two science courses totaling 6 credit hours. For degree plans that require or recommend one or more of the 4-hour courses listed below to fulfill Mathematics or Life/Physical Science core areas, the additional 1 hour of each course may be used to fulfill 1 hour of the Component Option B requirement. For example, if a student takes BIOL 2401 and BIOL 2402 to fulfill the Life/Physical Science requirement, and MATH 2413 to fulfill the Mathematics requirement, the student has automatically fulfilled the Component Option B requirement.
BIOL 2401, BIOL 2402
CHEM 1405
MATH 2412, MATH 2413
PHYS 1471
Life and Physical Sciences
Required: 6 semester credit hours
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 2 of the following: | 6 | |
| Physical Anthropology | ||
| Stars and Galaxies | ||
| Solar System | ||
| Biology for Science Majors I | ||
| Biology for Science Majors II | ||
| Life Science | ||
| Anatomy and Physiology I 1 | ||
| Anatomy and Physiology II 1 | ||
| General Chemistry I | ||
| General Chemistry II | ||
| Introductory Chemistry I 1 | ||
| Physical Geography Meteorology | ||
| Earth Sciences for Non-Sci Maj | ||
| Intro Ocean, Astron & Atmos | ||
| Physical Geology | ||
| Historical Geology | ||
| College Physics I | ||
| College Physics II | ||
| Elementary Physics | ||
| Acoustical Foundations of Musi 1 | ||
| University Physics I | ||
| University Physics II | ||
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 6 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills and Teamwork
- 1
The Mathematics core area requires 3 credit hours of Mathematics; and, the Life/Physical Science core area requires two science courses totaling 6 credit hours. For degree plans that require or recommend one or more of the 4-hour courses listed below to fulfill Mathematics or Life/Physical Science core areas, the additional 1 hour of each course may be used to fulfill 1 hour of the Component Option B requirement. For example, if a student takes BIOL 2401 and CHEM 1405 to fulfill the Life/Physical Science requirement, and MATH 2413 to fulfill the Mathematics requirement, the student has automatically fulfilled the Component Option B requirement.
BIOL 2401, BIOL 2402
CHEM 1405
MATH 2412, MATH 2413
PHYS 1471
Language, Philosophy and Culture
Required: 3 semester credit hours
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 1 of the following: | 3 | |
| General Anthropology | ||
| British Literature | ||
| American Literature | ||
| World Literature | ||
| Forms of Literature | ||
| World Civilizations I | ||
| World Civilizations II | ||
| Music of Many Cultures | ||
| Introd to Philosophy | ||
| Professional Ethics | ||
| Intermediate Spanish I | ||
| Intermediate Spanish II | ||
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 3 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Personal Responsibility and Social Responsibility
Creative Arts
Required: 3 semester credit hours
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 1 of the following: | 3 | |
| Architectural History II | ||
| Art History I | ||
| Art History II | ||
| Theater Appreciation | ||
| Music Appreciation | ||
| Music Literature | ||
| American Music | ||
| History of Jazz | ||
| History of Borderland Music | ||
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 3 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Teamwork and Social Responsibility
American History
Required: 6 semester credit hours
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| HIST 1301 | United States History I | 3 |
| HIST 1302 | United States History II | 3 |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 6 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Personal Responsibility and Social Responsibility
Government/Political Science
Required: 6 semester credit hours
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GOVT 2305 | Federal Government | 3 |
| GOVT 2306 | Texas Government | 3 |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 6 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Personal Responsibility and Social Responsibility
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Required: 3 semester credit hours
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 1 of the following: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Archeology | ||
| International Business | ||
| Principles of Macroeconomics | ||
| Principles of Microeconomics | ||
| Environmental Sustainability 3 | ||
| Intro to Political Science | ||
| Introd to Psychology | ||
| Introduction to Sociology | ||
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 3 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills and Social Responsibility
Component Option A
Communication
Required: 3 semester credit hours of oral communication
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 1 of the following: | 3 | |
| Introd to the Mass Media | ||
| Introduction to Speech Comm | ||
| Public Speaking | ||
| Bus and Professional Comm | ||
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 3 | |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking Skills, Communication Skills, Teamwork and Personal Responsibility
Component Option B
As an option for up to three (3) semester credit hours of the Component Option, the following course(s) are allowed:
| Code | Title | Semester Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ANTH 2302 | Introduction to Archeology | 3 |
| ANTH 2346 | General Anthropology | 3 |
| ASTR 1103 | Stars and Galaxies Laboratory | 1 |
| ASTR 1104 | Solar System Laboratory | 1 |
| BIOL 1106 | Biology for Science Maj Lab I | 1 |
| BIOL 1107 | Biology for Science Maj Lab II | 1 |
| BIOL 2401 | Anatomy and Physiology I 1 | 4 |
| BIOL 2402 | Anatomy and Physiology II 1 | 4 |
| BUAD 2374 | International Business | 3 |
| CHEM 1111 | General Chemistry I Lab | 1 |
| CHEM 1112 | General Chemistry II Lab | 1 |
| CHEM 1405 | Introductory Chemistry I 1 | 4 |
| ENGL 1171 | Information Literacy | 1 |
| ENGL 2311 | Technical & Business Writing | 3 |
| GEOG 1303 | World Regional Geography | 3 |
| GEOL 1101 | Earth Science NonSci Maj I Lab | 1 |
| GEOL 1102 | Intro Ocean Astron & Atmos Lab | 1 |
| GEOL 1103 | Physical Geology Laboratory | 1 |
| GEOL 1104 | Historical Geology Lab | 1 |
| HIST 2321 | World Civilizations I | 3 |
| HIST 2322 | World Civilizations II | 3 |
| MATH 2412 | Precalculus | 4 |
| MATH 2413 | Calculus I 1 | 4 |
| PHIL 1301 | Introd to Philosophy | 3 |
| PHYS 1101 | Coll Physics I Laboratory | 1 |
| PHYS 1102 | College Physics II Lab | 1 |
| PHYS 1471 | Acoustical Foundations of Musi 1 | 4 |
| PHYS 2125 | University Physics I Lab | 1 |
| PHYS 2126 | University Physics II Lab | 1 |
Core Objectives: Critical Thinking, Communication Skills and one of the remaining Core Objectives
- 1
The Mathematics core area requires 3 credit hours of Mathematics; and, the Life/Physical Science core area requires two science courses totaling 6 credit hours. For degree plans that require or recommend one or more of the 4-hour courses listed below to fulfill Mathematics or Life/Physical Science core areas, the additional 1 hour of each course may be used to fulfill 1 hour of the Component Option B requirement. For example, if a student takes BIOL 2401 and CHEM 1405 to fulfill the Life/Physical Science requirement, and MATH 2413 to fulfill the Mathematics requirement, the student has automatically fulfilled the Component Option B requirement.
BIOL 2401, BIOL 2402
CHEM 1405
MATH 2412, MATH 2413
PHYS 1471