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Questions? Consult the FAQ's!General Education Program
The Saylor Foundation invites you to use our materials in any number of ways—to tutor yourself, to instruct others, to brush up on areas in which you need extra help, to spend an afternoon learning about astrophysics, or however you wish. However, should you choose to proceed through our materials with the intention of simulating the traditional four-year higher education experience, you will need to select a major, fulfill its requirements, and complete the General Education Program outlined below.
The purpose of the General Education Program is to educate students about what we—as human beings—know about ourselves: our history as a species, our diverse cultures and religious experiences, our physical make-ups and environments, and how we communicate and support ourselves economically. The curriculum is also designed to enhance your abilities to think analytically using quantitative and qualitative information and to consider ethical questions. In short, the curriculum will help you prepare to be a reflective, confident, productive citizen of your local, national, and global communities. The curriculum also communicates the importance of continued learning and reflection. Given the rapid expansion of knowledge and changes in how we create, transfer, and use it, this may be the most important lesson of all. You should complete this program and the requirements of your chosen major understanding that you will still not know everything you will ever need to know.
The General Education Program has two focuses: skill development and knowledge enhancement. The courses you will take in order to satisfy the requirements of your chosen major will build on and reinforce what you learn in this program. You must fulfill all of the General Education requirements (in addition to the requirements outlined in your chosen area of study) if you wish to complete coursework equivalent to a four-year program of study.
Skill Development
5 courses
Writing Skills
Requirement: 2 courses
Stipulations: These courses do not count toward a major in English. You should take ENGL001 in your first semester and ENGL002 or the equivalent early in your studies at saylor.org. By “equivalent,” we mean any course in another discipline in which you will perform research, organize information, form and test hypotheses, and draw conclusions.
Learning outcomes: Students will be able to collect, describe, and analyze information in their written work that discusses their assumptions, ideas, and conclusions.
Required:
ENGL001: English Composition I
ENGL002: English Composition II (or equivalent)
Quantitative Skills
Requirement: Any 2 of the following courses.
Learning outcomes: Students will be able to analyze and draw conclusions from quantitative data using mathematical concepts and appropriate formulas or models.
Select 2 of the following courses from the Mathematics Major:
MA101: Single-Variable Calculus I
Computer Skills
Requirement: 1 course
Stipulations: Students should take this course early in their learning career.
Learning outcomes: Students will be able to use today’s hardware and software technologies and be prepared to understand and use emerging technologies.
CS101: Introduction to Computer Science I
Knowledge Enhancement
12 courses
Social Sciences
Requirement: 6 courses
Learning outcomes: Students will understand the ways in which ideas, culture, individual and group action, the media, political and economic forces, gender, race, religion, history, and biology interact and influence local, national, and global communities.
Required:
HIST211: American History: Colonial Period to the Civil War
POLSC101: Introduction to Politics
PSYCH101: Introduction to Psychology
Select one of the following courses from the History discipline:
HIST102: Early Globalizations: East Meets West (1200s-1600s)
HIST103: World History in the Early and Modern Era (1600-Present)
HIST212: American History: American Civil War to the Present
HIST221: Colonial Latin and South America
HIST231: Empire and States in the Middle East and Southwest Asia
HIST251: History of Africa to 1890
Select one of the following courses from the Political Science discipline:
POLSC211: Introduction to International Relations
POLSC221: Introduction to Comparative Politics
POLSC231: Introduction to American Politics
Select one of the following courses from the Psychology discipline:
PSYCH302: Lifespan Development
PSYCH405: Theories of Personality
Humanities
Requirement: 4 courses. Two semesters of a foreign language are required.
Learning outcomes: Students will learn about diverse cultures, aesthetics, and philosophy or ethics.
Required:
FR001: French I (to be completed at Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative)
FR002: French II (to be completed at Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative)
Select two courses from the following options:
ARTH101: Art Appreciation and Techniques (Please select ARTH101A or ARTH101B below)
ARTH110: Introduction to Western Art History—Pre-historic to High Gothic
ENGL101: Introduction to Cultural and Literary Expression
ENGL202: Cultural and Literary Expression in the Renaissance
ENGL204: Cultural and Literary Expression in Modernity
PHIL101: Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL102: Logic and Critical Thinking
PHIL103: Moral and Political Philosophy
PHIL201: The Philosophy of Death
Natural Sciences
Requirement: 2 courses; these courses include some simulated lab work.
Learning outcomes: Students will learn and apply scientific methods as they discover how natural systems operate and interact with each other and with people and communities.
Select one pair of courses:
BIO101: Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology AND
BIO102: Introduction to Evolutionary and Ecological Biology
OR
CHEM101: General Chemistry I AND
OR
