Overview
USF’s General Education curriculum comprises 36 hours divided into 21 hours prescribed by the State of Florida and 15 hours defined by USF Faculty (referred to as Enhanced General Education).
Students must receive a minimum grade of C- in each course that is used to fulfill any requirement in the general education curriculum. S/U grades are not acceptable for general education courses. Those courses completed satisfactorily and applied to meet general education requirements must have an overall GPA of 2.0. Courses may be counted for both the major AND the General Education requirements.
All general education courses at USF incorporate critical and analytical thinking, problem solving, and written communication.
State Required General Education
The state requirements of USF’s General Education comprise 15 hours from the state-mandated list and 6 hours from State Communication and State Computation graduation requirements.
State-mandated General Education Courses
For students entering the University as a first-time-in-college student beginning Fall term 2015, at least one (1) course must be taken from each of the general education subject areas listed below in this section. These courses comprise the general education core as required per section 1007.25(3), Florida Statutes and defined by Florida Board of Governors Regulation 8.005.
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One of the following courses in Communication:
- ENC X101 English Composition I;
or
- A course with an ENC prefix for which ENCX101 is a direct prerequisite.
- One of the following courses in Humanities:
- ARH X000 Art Appreciation;
or
- HUM X020 Introduction to Humanities;
or
- LIT X000 Introduction to Literature;
or
- MUL X010 Introduction to Music Literature/Music Appreciation;
or
- PHI X010 Introduction to Philosophy;
or
- THE X000 Theatre Appreciation.
- One of the following courses in Mathematics:
- MAC X105 College Algebra;
or
- MAC X311 Calculus I;
or
- MGF X106 Liberal Arts Mathematics I;
or
- MGF X107 Liberal Arts Mathematics II;
or
- STA X023 Statistical Methods;
or
- A mathematics course for which one of the above general education core course options in mathematics is a direct prerequisite.
- One of the following courses in Natural Sciences:
- AST X002 Descriptive Astronomy;
or
- BSC X005 General Biology;
or
- BSC X010 General Biology I;
or
- BSC X085 Anatomy and Physiology I;
or
- CHM X020 Chemistry for Liberal Studies;
or
- CHM X045 General Chemistry I;
or
- ESC X000 Introduction to Earth Science;
or
- EVR X001 Introduction to Environmental Science;
or
- PHY X020 Fundamentals of Physics;
or
- PHY X048 General Physics with Calculus;
or
- PHY X053 General Physics I;
or
- A natural science course for which one of the above general education core course options in natural science is a direct prerequisite.
- One of the following courses in Social Sciences:
- AMH X020 Introductory Survey Since 1877;
or
- ANT X000 Introduction to Anthropology;
or
- ECO X013 Macroeconomics;
or
- POS X041 American Government;
or
- PSY X012 Introduction to Psychology;
or
- SYG X000 Principles of Sociology.
At USF, we use the following course attributes to distinguish the different requirements:
NOTE: Students who transfer into a state university or between state universities shall be required to meet the above general education core requirements if the students were classified as first-time-in-college at their original postsecondary institution Fall Term 2015 and thereafter. Any course accepted by an institution in the Florida College System or State University System as meeting the general education state-mandated core at that institution shall be accepted as meeting the state-mandated core requirements at all institutions. All credit earned by other transfer students shall be evaluated by the receiving institution on a course-by-course basis to determine core equivalency. Credit earned through an acceleration mechanism in Section 1007.27, Florida Statutes and Board of Governors Regulation 6.006, will meet the related general education core course requirement.
State Required Communication
Besides the state-mandated Communication course (ENC 1101), students must also complete another 3 hours in English Composition coursework. At USF, this requirement is met with ENC 1102 English Composition II. Additionally, students must complete 6 semester hours of coursework in which they are required to demonstrate college-level English Language writing skills through multiple assignments. All Enhanced General Education courses (described below) meet this writing requirement.
At USF, we use the following course attributes to distinguish the different requirements:
NOTE: Students awarded college credit in English based on their demonstration of writing skills through dual enrollment, advanced placement, or international baccalaureate instruction shall be considered to have satisfied this requirement to the extent of the college credit awarded.
State Required Computation
Besides the state-mandated Mathematics course, and additional 3 hours of mathematics coursework at the level of college algebra or higher is required. Applied logic, statistics and other computation-based coursework that may not be offered by a mathematics department may be used to fulfill three (3) of the six (6) hours required by this section.
NOTE: Students awarded college credit based on their demonstration of mathematics skills at the level of college algebra or higher through dual enrollment, advanced placement, or international baccalaureate instruction shall be considered to have satisfied this requirement to the extent of the college credit awarded.
USF’s Enhanced Gen Ed
The remaining 15 hours of a student’s required 36 general education hours are fulfilled by completing USF’s Enhanced General Education curriculum, which was created to provide a more relevant, coherent, rigorous and student-centered curriculum for intentional learners. USF’s Enhanced General Education program seeks to enhance skills most applicable in the 21st global community. Its design directly supports the University of South Florida’s commitment to deliver a competitive undergraduate program that generates knowledge, fosters intellectual development, and ensures students success in a global environment. For more information, see https://www.usf.edu/undergrad/general-education-council/enhanced-gened/index.aspx.
A student is expected to take a minimum of three (3) credit hours in each of the following areas:
- Creative Thinking - Students will combine or synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways.
- Information & Data Literacy - Students will identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively and responsibly use and share information for the problems at hand.
- Human & Cultural Diversity - Students will demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of human experiences.
- Ethical Reasoning & Civic Engagement - Students will participate in activities of personal and public concern while recognizing ethical issues and assessing their own ethical values.
- High Impact Practice - Students will synthesize connections among experiences outside of the formal classroom.
High Impact Practices
The General Education courses in the High Impact Practice (TGEH) area are also distinguished by the type of High Impact Practice (HIP) they incorporate. Below is a list of the different types of HIP courses.
NOTE: Any course at USF can apply to be designated as including a HIP component. Only courses that also have the TGEH attribute will count for the Enhanced Gen Ed requirement.
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