General Education Advising Tips

Detailed information on general education advising is found in the bulletin at: [PDF] http://www.mnsu.edu/supersite/academics/bulletins/undergraduate/2012-2013/generalinfo/generaleduandhonors.pdf (227 KiB)

There are a few facts about general education that often result in questions, and these are covered below.

1. While there are 13 goal areas in General Education, some are optional or can be covered through means other than taking additional courses. These include Goal 2 (covered by completing remainder of General Education requirements); Goals 12 and 13 (optional).
2. The 8/2 rule refers to no more than 8 credits or 2 courses from the same discipline (exception English 101) being allowed to count toward the 44 required general education credits.
3. In Goals requiring two courses (1C, 3, 5, and 6), the two courses must come from different disciplines.
4. A single course may count for up to two goal areas, plus writing intensive (in applicable), but only counts once toward the 44 credit requirement.
5. A general education course may also count as a pre-requisite course for a given major, so careful planning can help students be more efficient in their course selection.
6. The Bachelor of Nursing program has an exception to the 44 credit general education credit minimum. Their minimum is 40 credits. If a pre-nursing student switches majors, however, s/he will be subject to the 44 credit requirement.
7. Student must meet the general education requirement for the bulletin year they are enrolled under, unless they switch bulletin years. Student may not "mix and match" bulletins (i.e. use one for general education, another for their major or minor, etc.)

Graduation Requirements

The Diverse Cultures (Purple and Gold) requirement is a graduation requirement (not general education). Currently, there is discussion about moving the Writing Intensive (1C) and Performance and Participation (11) requirements to graduation requirements also, since these are not aligned with the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum or requirements of an Association of Arts (AA) degree throughout the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system. If this move takes place, the requirements will remain, but be unique requirements of Minnesota State Mankato for graduation.

It is also important to be aware of the minimum university requirements for graduation in terms of:

• Number of upper division (300-400 level) credits: 40 semester credits
• Number of credits taken in residence (at Minnesota State Mankato): 30 semester credits

Specific programs may also have separate residency requirements for credits taken at the University.