Washington University in St. Louis

St. Louis, MO

The College of Arts & Sciences at the university says its general education program has the following goals for students: "[t]o inspire you to seek both breadth and depth in your intellectual explorations; [t]o strengthen your fundamental skills in effective written and oral communication and in quantitative reasoning; [t]o heighten your understanding and appreciation of people different from you; [t]o provide opportunities for learning and discovery experiences at the leading edge of scholarly research and creative activity; [t]o foster your curiosity, especially concerning links between specialized areas of knowledge; [t]o help you develop a coherent four-year plan for your intellectual development; [t]o challenge you to discover and develop who you are and who you want to be; [t]o prepare you for life as a thoughtful, knowledgeable world citizen able to understand a wide range of ideas and information; and [t]o cultivate in you a desire for a life of meaning and serious purpose." [Source]

General Education Requirements

  • 1. Composition

    YES
  • 2. Literature

    NO

    See Note

    No credit given for Literature because the Textual and Historical Studies requirement may be satisfied by history, philosophy, and religion courses.

  • 3. Foreign Language

    NO
  • 4. U.S. Government or History

    NO

    See Note

    No credit given for U.S. Government or History because the Textual and Historical Studies requirement may be satisfied by literature, philosophy, and religion courses.

  • 5. Economics

    NO
  • 6. Mathematics

    NO

    See Note

    No credit given for Mathematics because the Quantitative Analysis requirement may be fulfilled with science courses.

  • 7. Science

    NO

    See Note

    No credit given for Natural or Physical Science because the Natural Sciences and Mathematics area requirement folds math and science into one category, and a wide range of courses in several fields including education, anthropology, public health, and urban studies may satisfy the requirement.

  • Additional Information

    The university does have a noteworthy, optional, two-year Text and Tradition program that is both coherent and rich in content.

F

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