Candidates for a degree must satisfactorily complete the University’s General Education curriculum. This curriculum is designed to provide students with specific skills and a broad liberal arts background necessary for living lives of purpose with distinction. A course may be counted to meet a general education requirement only if that course is designated to fulfill the requirement in the semester that the course is taken.
Courses may satisfy requirements in both the general education program and a student’s majors and minors.
All Honors Program candidates complete the Honors Program curriculum listed within the Program of Study section, rather than the General Education curriculum described on the following pages.
I. Communication, writing, and mathematics literacy requirement: 9 credit hours
A. Course option: COM 100 (3 credit hours)
- Students will develop speeches that are appropriate for the purpose, context, and audience;
- Students will assemble speeches using effective verbal and nonverbal delivery techniques including the use of presentational aids;
- Students will evaluate their own and others’ speeches.
B. Course option: WRI 101 (3 credit hours)
- Students will demonstrate the ability to incorporate secondary sources in their own academic writing;
- Students will develop their understanding of rhetorical situations as they read and write in several genres;
- Students will develop their critical thinking skills as they analyze model texts and secondary sources;
- Students will work individually and collaboratively to hone their revision skills;
- Students will apply genre conventions appropriate conventions to their own work.
C. Mathematics-Based Course (3 credit hours)
Course option:BSC 201 CPS 201 , CPS 220 , MTH 119 , MTH 120 , MTH 121 , MTH 203 , MTH 222
- Ability to interpret mathematical information presented in various forms (e.g., equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, words, data).
- Ability to convert information from one mathematical form (e.g., equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, words) into another.
- Ability to perform arithmetic and mathematical calculations, including problems that involve multi-step solutions.
- Ability to make and draw conclusions based on mathematical analysis.
- Ability to make and evaluate important assumptions in estimation, modeling, and data analysis.
- Ability to explain thoughts and processes in terms of what evidence is used, how it is organized, presented, and contextualized.
II. Breadth of academic experience requirement
Courses in this category will encourage students to explore across the many disciplines on campus, helping them develop a broad base of knowledge that makes up the foundation of the liberal arts education.
A. Fine Arts and Humanities: Students must complete 9 credit hours from at least 3 different prefixes.
Course option: ART 102 , ART 103 , ART 104 , COM 101 , EDU 218 , HIS 105 , HIS 107 , HIS 108 , HIS 222 , HIS 223 , HIS 384 ,
LIT 102 , LIT 221 , LIT 222 , LIT 231 , LIT 232 , LIT 346 , LIT 350 , LIT 355 , LIT 360 , MED 102 , MED 156 , NDI 255 ,
REL 210 , WRI 210
- Employ principles, terminology, and methods from disciplines in the arts and humanities.
- Analyze primary works that are products of the human imagination and critical thought.
- Examine the creative process of products of the human imagination and critical thought.
- Explain relationships among cultural and/or historical contexts.
- Convey concepts and evidence related to humanistic endeavors clearly and effectively.
B. Natural Science: Students must complete a minimum of 6 credit hours from at least 2 different prefixes; one course must have a laboratory.
Course option: BIO 110 , BIO 110L , BIO 121 , BIO 123 , BIO 123L , CHM 103 , CHM 104 , CHM 111 ,
CPS 150 , ENS 101 , ENS 101L , ESS 313 , GEO 101 , GEO 101L , PHY 100 , PHY 100L , PHY 172
- Describe fundamental facts and principles of modern science.
- Explain how scientific principles are formulated, evaluated, and either modified or validated.
- Apply current models and theories to describe, explain, or predict natural phenomena.
- Apply scientific methods of inquiry to gather and analyze data to draw evidence‐based conclusions.
- Identify and differentiate information based on scientific and non‐scientific evidence and explanations.
C. Social Science: Students must complete 6 credit hours from at least 2 different prefixes.
Course option: BUS 101 , CRM 151 , ECO 102 , ECO 251 , ECO 252 , EDU 110 , EIS 272 , ESS 211 , ESS 230 , ESS 316 ,
HIS 320 or POL 320 , MGT 200 , MKT 200 , NDI 121 , POL 125 , POL 221 , POL 361 , POL 377 , PSY 101 , SOC 100
- Explain the primary terminology, concepts, and findings of the discipline.
- Utilize primary theoretical approaches used in the discipline.
- Explain quantitative and qualitative research methods used in the discipline.
- Describe ethical issues raised by the practice and findings of the discipline.
D. Self Community: Students must complete 6 credit hours.
Course option: CHM 108 , COM 245 , EDU 217 , EIS 200 , EIS 320 , ESS 103 , ESS 116 , ESS 240 , FRN 101 , FRN 102 , FRN 201 , FRN 202 ,
GER 101 , GER 102 , GER 201 , GER 202 , GER 301 , GER 302 , GID 100 , HIS 352 , HIS 385 , HSC 171 , LIT 307 , LIT 310 , POL 227 ,
PSY 269 , PSY 337 , PSY 407 , REL 204 , SOC 230 , SOC 373 , SPA 101 , SPA 102 , SPA 104 , SPA 201 , SPA 202
Or Approved Study Abroad Experience
- Study abroad experience - more than four weeks, but less than a full semester will count for 3 credit hours towards Self and Community.
- Study abroad experience - Full semester experience will count for 6 credit hours - Self and Community
- Describe identity as multifaceted and constituting multiple categories of individual and group difference such as race, color, language, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, and intersectionality.
- Describe how cultures (including their own) are shaped by the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, disability, ethnicity, nationality, and/or other socially constructed categories of difference.
- Connect historic, economic, political, and/or social systems such as ethnocentrism, colonialism, slavery, democracy, and imperialism to their historical and ongoing consequences on societies and nations around the world
- Explain how sociocultural status and access to (or distribution of) resources are influenced by cultural practices within historical, social, cultural, and economic systems.
Special Exemptions
While the University is committed to the General Education requirements as the foundation of a broad liberal arts education, it is also recognized that in a few extraordinary situations, a student may have difficulty scheduling the completion of the General Education requirements. In such cases, a student may petition the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost or designee for special exemptions from not more than two courses in the General Education requirements. Petitioning students must have a minimum 3.00 grade point average. All exemptions will be reviewed on an individual basis and do not reduce the 120 hours required for graduation
Transfer/CCP/IB/AP Students and General Education
Students with Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degrees
Transfer students entering Heidelberg University with a completed Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, or Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university will be considered to have fulfilled the General Education Program. Such students will be required to complete only the Capstone requirement for their major. Regardless of previous degree, transfer students must meet all requirements for their specific degree program, including degree specific complementary liberal arts requirements.
AIM Hei Mentoring Program Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing
The AIM (Advise, Inspire, Mentor) Hei mentoring program is a two semester program for new incoming students that provides a structured means by which students can:
- Design and implement a program of study - both inside and outside the classroom - aimed at achieving the learning goals the University has for its graduates.
- Define, explore, and reflect upon their academic, personal, and professional goals and relate those goals to Heidelberg and beyond.
New students are placed in small groups to work with faculty for two semesters. Students transferring to Heidelberg with fewer than 24 credit hours participate in the AIM Hei program.
Students transferring 24 or more credit hours complete HEI 103 , a condensed version of the HEI program designed for transfer and non-traditional students.
HEI 101 or HEI 102
The AIM (Advise, Inspire, Mentor) Hei mentoring program provides first-time degree-seeking and transfer students with a structured means by which they can design and implement a program of study-both inside and outside the classroom-aimed at achieving the University’s four responsibility goals:
- Value and pursue academic excellence
- Develop personal and professional responsibility
- Act with integrity in all aspects of one’s life
- Become engaged through participation and service in one’s communities
Learning Objectives: Upon completion of the AIM Hei program, students will be able to demonstrate:
- An understanding of the nature of a liberal arts education, including how the Heidelberg general education program or honors program, individual majors and extracurricular experiences relate to such an education;
- How co- and extracurricular experiences relate to a liberal arts education;
- The ability to set academic, professional and personal goals and to make plans related to the fulfillment of those goals;
- The ability to reflect upon experiences and to use that reflection as the basis for modifying goals and plans related to their academic, professional and personal lives;
- An awareness of support and planning resources at Heidelberg University related to academic, professional and personal issues;
- An understanding of degree requirements and auditing, along with the course registration process at Heidelberg University.
