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The Significance of General Education

The components of an undergraduate education include the major, in which the student acquires depth of knowledge, electives that allow a student to explore personal or career-related interests, and General Education (GE). General Education allows students to develop competency in academic skills that are essential to all academic majors. In addition, General Education offers students broad knowledge beyond the focus of the major, as well as exposure to the rich diversity of the human experience.

The General Education program at CSULB sequentially introduces students to the mastery of academic skills that will provide graduates with an understanding of self, the physical world, the development and functioning of human society, and its cultural and artistic endeavors, as well as an understanding of the methodologies, value systems, and thought processes employed in human inquiries. The program involves three stages: Foundation, Explorations, and Capstone. Students who begin their college careers at CSULB will complete all three stages, while transfer students who enter the university with a Full General Education Certification will be expected to complete the final (Capstone) stage only, and the Human Diversity and Global Issues requirements if not met through transfer coursework.

General Education Breadth requirements are specified pursuant to Title 5, California Code of Regulations, Sections 40402.1, 40403, 40405, 40405.1, 40405.2, 40405.4, and 40508, and Sections 1 and 2 of Chapter III of the Standing Orders of the Board of Trustees of the California State University, and Executive Order 1065. CSU General Education Breadth requirements have been designated to complement the major program and electives completed by each baccalaureate candidate to assure that graduates have made noteworthy progress toward becoming truly educated persons. These requirements are designed to provide the knowledge, skills, experiences, and perspectives that will enable CSU students to expand their capacities to take part in a wide range of human interests and activities; to confront personal, moral, and social problems that are an inevitable part of human life; and to cultivate both the requisite skills and enthusiasm for lifelong learning.


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