General Education Information

Overview

USF’s General Education curriculum comprises 36 hours divided into 15 hours from a specific list of state-approved courses and 21 hours of USF-chosen courses approved by the Florida Board of Governors. The USF-chosen courses all have enhancements added to them and also incorporate Communication, Critical/Analytical Thinking, and Problem Solving.

All 36 credits must be taken from five (5) disciplines: 

• Communication
• Humanities
• Mathematics
• Natural Science
• Social Science

The table below provides the exact breakdown of the 36 required credits.

General Education Discipline Areas

All general education courses must come from the five state-approved discipline areas. The state-approved descriptions for each area are provided below and come from Florida Statute 1007.25(d). After the definition we provide the courses that will count for the State Core requirement (as defined in Florida Board Governors Regulation 8.005) and the USF Gen Ed requirement (as approved by the USF General Education Council).

Communication

“Communication courses must afford students the ability to communicate effectively, including the ability to write clearly and engage in public speaking.”

State Core Requirement

One of the following courses in Communication:

• ENC X101 English Composition I;
• A course with an ENC prefix for which ENCX101 is a direct prerequisite.

At USF we use the SGEC attribute to distinguish these courses.

USF Gen Ed Requirement

Any course with the UGEC attribute.

Humanities

“Humanities courses must afford students the ability to think critically through the mastering of subjects concerned with human culture, especially literature, history, art, music, and philosophy, and must include selections from the Western canon.”

State Core Requirement

One of the following courses in Humanities:

• ARH X000 Art Appreciation;
• HUM X020 Introduction to Humanities;
• LIT X000 Introduction to Literature;
• MUL X010 Introduction to Music Literature/Music Appreciation;
• PHI X010 Introduction to Philosophy;
• THE X000 Theatre Appreciation.

At USF we use the SGEH attribute to distinguish these courses.

USF Gen Ed Requirement

Any course with the UGEH attribute.

Mathematics

“Mathematics courses must afford students a mastery of foundational mathematical and computation models and methods by applying such models and methods in problem solving.”

State Core Requirement

One of the following courses in Mathematics:

• MAC X105 College Algebra;
• MAC X311 Calculus I;
• MGF X130 Mathematical Thinking;
• STA X023 Statistical Methods; 
• A mathematics course for which one of the above general education core course options in mathematics is a direct prerequisite.

At USF we use the SGEM attribute to distinguish these courses.

USF Gen Ed Requirement

Any course with the UGEM attribute.

Natural Science

“Natural science courses must afford students the ability to critically examine and evaluate the principles of the scientific method, model construction, and use the scientific method to explain natural experience and phenomena.”

State Core Requirement

One of the following courses in Natural Sciences:

• AST X002 Descriptive Astronomy;
• BSC X005 General Biology;
• BSC X010 General Biology I;
• BSC X085 Anatomy and Physiology I;
• CHM X020 Chemistry for Liberal Studies;
• CHM X045 General Chemistry I;
• ESC X000 Introduction to Earth Science;
• EVR X001 Introduction to Environmental Science;
• GLY X010 Introduction to Geology;
• OCE X001 Introduction to Oceanography;
• PHY X020 Fundamentals of Physics;
• PHY X048 General Physics with Calculus;
• PHY X053 General Physics I;
• A natural science course for which one of the above general education core course options in natural science is a direct prerequisite.

At USF we use the SGEN attribute to distinguish these courses.

USF Gen Ed Requirement

Any course with the UGEN attribute.

Social Science

“Social science courses must afford students an understanding of the basic social and behavioral science concepts and principles used in the analysis of behavior and past and present social, political, and economic issues.”

State Core Requirement

One of the following courses in Social Sciences:

• AMH 2010 Introductory Survey to 1877;
• AMH X020 Introductory Survey Since 1877;
• ANT X000 Introduction to Anthropology;
• ECO X013 Macroeconomics;
• POS X041 American Government;
• PSY X012 Introduction to Psychology

At USF we use the SGES attribute to distinguish these courses.

USF Gen Ed Requirement

Any course with the UGES attribute.

USF’s General Education

As required by Florida Statute 1007.55(1), all general education courses must be categorized into one the main discipline areas described above. In addition, the University of South Florida faculty choose one of the enhancements below to add to their USF General Education course. There are no requirements around how many of these enhancements students need to take. The list of enhancements are below:

• Creative Thinking - Students will summarize or interpret 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.
• Cultural Competence - Students will demonstrate an understanding of the range of human experiences.
• Civic Engagement - Students will participate in activities of personal and public concern while recognizing ethical issues and assessing their own ethical values.
• Experiential Learning - Students will summarize connections among experiences outside of the formal classroom.
• Quantitative Reasoning - Students will sho an understanding of many quantitative skills, including interpreting evidence, modeling complex systems, and drawing valid inferences from data.

Additionally, all Enhanced General Education courses include Communication, Critical/Analytical Thinking, and Problem Solving learning outcomes:

• Communication - Students will produce well-organized, well-developed communications that reflect appropriate use of language to achieve a specific purpose and address specific audiences.
• Critical and Analytical Thinking - Students will comprehensively explore issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating any opinions or conclusions.
• Problem Solving - Students will design, evaluate, and implement a strategy to answer open-ended questions or achieve desired goals.

State Graduation Requirements

As set forth by Board of Governors Regulation 6.017, all students wishing to earn a baccalaureate degree must complete state required communication and state required computation.

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. At USF, we use the 6AC attribute to distinguish courses that will meet this requirement requirement.

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, an 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. At USF, all of our Enhanced General Education courses with the attribute UGEM meet this requirement.

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.

Additional Information

• 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.
• Students who transfer into a state university or between state universities shall be required to meet the above state core requirements if the students were classified as first-time-in-college at their original post-secondary 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.
• Some majors require or recommend specific general education courses. Make sure to check with your academic advisor when choosing courses.
• Students who enter USF with an Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree from a Florida public institution do NOT need to complete general education at USF.