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General Education Program and Requirements
The General Education Program at UCM is an essential component of all undergraduate degree programs. It allows students to cultivate fundamental intellectual and practical skills. The requirements are designed to improve students’ ability to communicate, think critically, solve real-world problems, and adapt to a changing world by learning to think in different contexts. General education cultivates social and civic responsibility to help students become lifelong learners and contributing members of society.
The philosophy of general education is not unique to UCM. UCM’s General Education
Program is based on a model developed by the Association of American Colleges and
Universities (AAC&U) called Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP). LEAP is
organized around essential learning outcomes for all students regardless of their
chosen field of study. For more information on LEAP, see aacu.org/leap.
This philosophy is the foundation for UCM’s General Education mission statement:
The General Education program at the University of Central Missouri serves student
need and the public interest by ensuring students have strong foundational skills
by providing a broad, enriched academic experience that both complements and supports
their study within specialized disciplines.
UCM's General Eduation Outcomes
Ten outcomes establish the knowledge base and skills for all UCM graduates. The UCM General Education Program Outcomes include:
- Global Learning - Students will examine and analyze current and historical phenomena that shape both local and global communities.
- Intercultural Knowledge - Students will identify, analyze, and evaluate diverse cultural perspectives.
- Ethical Reasoning - Students will identify, analyze, and evaluate diverse ethical perspectives.
- Civic Responsibility - Students will demonstrate knowledge of civic responsibility and capacity for active participation in a democratic society.
- Written Communication - Students will demonstrate clear and effective expression of ideas in writing using multimodal channels.
- Oral Communication - Students will demonstrate proficiency in oral discourse across settings, purposes, and audiences.
- Information Literacy - Students will demonstrate the ability to locate, organize, evaluate, and synthesize information from a variety of sources to make informed decisions.
- Quantitative Literacy - Students will apply quantitative reasoning to analyze problems and draw reasonable and appropriate inferences.
- Inquiry & Analysis - Students will demonstrate critical and creative thought and/or expression with sensitivity to context.
- Scientific Inquiry - Students will examine and apply the scientific methods to analyze and explain natural phenomena.
Policies Concerning the UCM General Education Program
The Faculty Senate General Education Committee is charged with the development and interpretation of policies concerning the General Education Program.
General Policies Governing UCM General Education
The minimum number of required General Education semester credit hours for all students, regardless of their program of study, is 42. Some degree programs may require up to six additional hours of General Education depending on the math, science, and technology courses required.
Courses taken to fulfill General Education requirements may not be taken on the pass/fail basis. Students who have fulfilled all General Education requirements in a specific area may elect to take additional General Education courses as free elective hours in the same area on the pass/fail basis.
Learn more about UCM’s general education courses.
Transfer Students and General Education
Transfer Students with a degree or the 42-hour core (MOTR CORE 42) from Missouri institutions. Students who transfer to UCM with an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree, an Associate of Arts in Teaching (A.A.T.) degree, or a bachelor’s degree from an appropriately regionally accredited institution in Missouri, or have met the Missouri 42-hour General Education Core (MOTR CORE 42) requirements are considered to have met UCM’s 42-hour general education program, state law requirement Section 170.011 RSMO Supp (1988) with the exception of any specific general education courses required by the student’s major/minor.
Transfer students from an out-of-state institution without a degree. Students who transfer from an out-of-state institution without a degree will have their courses evaluated on a course-by-course basis for UCM’s general education program.
Transfer students from an in-state institution without a degree. Students who transfer from an in-state institution without a degree or the Missouri 42-hour General Education Core (MOTR CORE 42) requirements will have their courses evaluated on a course-by-course basis for both the UCM general education program and the Missouri Higher Education Core Transfer Curriculum (CORE 42). Transfer students are initially placed on UCM’s General Education program. A student can opt-in to finish CORE42 at UCM with their Success Advisor.
Eligibility for CORE42 completion instead of University of Central Missouri
General Education is determined by using the following criteria:
- Student transferred to UCM in the Spring 2019 semester or later from a Missouri public college or university.
- Student has earned 12 or more transferable hours at a Missouri public college or university following graduation from high school (credits from Dual Credit pre-High School graduation do not count in eligibility).
Core 42 - Missouri Higher Education Core Transfer Curriculum
CORE 42 is a statewide transferable general education lower-division core curriculum of 42 semester credit hours among all Missouri’s public Institutions of Higher Education (IHE). The courses are designed to ensure that all graduates from Missouri IHE possess a common core of college-level competencies, skills, and knowledge. Completion of all 42 semester credit hours will result in completion of general education at any Missouri IHE. Upon completion of this CORE 42, a student may submit a request through the Office of the Registrar for a CORE 42 notation to be entered on the student's transcript. If the student then transfers to another participating school in the state, the receiving institution will accept CORE 42 as equivalent to their own general education block. In a similar manner, if a student transfers to UCM with certification of CORE 42 from another Missouri IHE, the student will not be required to take any of the UCM’s General Education requirements unless they are required for a students program (degree, major, or minor).
View MOTR courses at UCM refer to the UCM Catalog.
For approved MOTR courses at other Missouri public colleges and universities go to: Missouri Department of Higher Education CORE.
CORE 42 is comprised of at least 42 semester credit hours of courses distributed across five knowledge areas. Courses that are approved for CORE 42 contain a Missouri Transfer (MOTR) course number in the undergraduate catalog.
CORE 42 Knowledge Areas and Requirements:
- Communications (minimum of 9 MOTR credit hours)
- Written Communications (minimum of 6 MOTR credit hours)
- Oral Communications (minimum of 3 MOTR credit hours)
- Mathematical Sciences (minimum of 3 MOTR credit hours)
*MTH courses that use one of the MOTR MATH courses as a prerequisite will meet requirement for this area (i.e. Trigonometry, Calculus, etc.). - Social and Behavioral Sciences (minimum of 9 credit hours)
- Must include minimum of 3 credit hours Civics course (MOTR POSC 101, MOTR HIST 101, or MOTR HIST 102)
- Must include at least 2 disciplines (e.g., MOTR PSYC 100, MOTR HIST 101; discipline designation four letters after MOTR before the number)
- Natural Sciences (minimum of 7 credit hours from 2 disciplines; one MOTR course with a lab component)
- Humanities and Fine Arts (minimum of 9 credit hours; from at least 2 disciplines)
- Additional MOTR Courses (select from any knowledge area MOTR courses to make at least 42 MOTR credit hours; approximately 5 MOTR credits).
