AP.11 General Education Requirements

SUNY General Education

A general education curriculum is the foundation of the undergraduate experience. It helps build the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to prepare students to make contributions in their careers, communities, and beyond as global citizens. The range of courses in the general education curriculum cultivates students’ intellectual flexibility and curiosity about the world. It offers students problem-solving and communication skills, along with an understanding of diverse perspectives, to equip them to advocate for themselves and others. SUNY’s longstanding commitment to a strong systemwide general education policy dates back to the late 1990s, with the establishment of the SUNY General Education Requirement (SUNY GER). In 2021, the SUNY Board of Trustees approved the SUNY General Education Framework (SUNY GE), ensuring that all SUNY undergraduate students will have this critical foundation, regardless of type of degree or area of study.

The SUNY GE framework includes 12 categories of knowledge, skills and competencies—ten knowledge and skills areas that expose students to different ways of knowing so that they can make reasoned judgements outside as well as inside their academic field, and enabling them to develop diverse perspectives and global understanding; and two core competencies that extend beyond discipline-specific knowledge and skills.

SUNY General Education Knowledge and Skills Areas

A minimum of 30 SUNY General Education credits and completion of 7 of 10 categories of knowledge and skills areas are required for all Baccalaureate, AA, and AS degree programs, effective Fall 2023. A minimum of 20 SUNY General Education credits and completion of the four required knowledge and skills areas listed below are required for all AAS degree programs, effective Fall 2024. Students in AOS degree programs must also meet the four required knowledge and skills areas listed below, effective Fall 2024. However, students in AOS degree programs may accomplish this through the completion of freestanding SUNY GE courses and/or embedded required general education content within their major's applied courses.

The following four knowledge and skills areas are specifically required for all undergraduate degree programs:

• Communication: Written (GCW) and Oral (GCO)
• Diversity: Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice (GDV)
• Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning (GM)
• Natural Science and Scientific Reasoning (GNS)

In addition, a minimum of three of the following six knowledge and skills areas are required for all Baccalaureate, AA, and AS degree programs:

• Humanities (GH)
• Social Science (GSS)
• The Arts (GA)
• US History and Civic Engagement (GUS)
• World History and Global Awareness (GWH)
• World Languages (GFL)

SUNY General Education Core Competencies

The two core competencies listed below are required for all undergraduate-degree programs.

• Critical Thinking and Reasoning (CTR)
• Information Literacy (IL)

Liberal Arts and Sciences Requirement

In addition to completing the SUNY GE requirements, some degrees require additional general education credits in the Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). Please refer to the academic program pages for specific SUNY GE requirements for every SUNY Morrisville degree program.

SUNY General Education Credit and Category Requirements

For a complete listing of SUNY General Education and/or Liberal Arts and Sciences courses by category, please visit our College Catalog.