UMass Boston

What is General Education?

The general education curriculum at UMass Boston gives you multiple opportunities to build and improve upon your academic foundation. You will be exposed to the fundamental ideas and intellectual activities that students and faculty across campus and around the world – in the arts, the humanities, business, and the social and natural sciences – utilize in scholarship. The UMass Boston general education program introduces students to subject matter and skills from across the university, and does so in ways that provide students with a strong foundation for success in future courses and in their career.

Goals and Principles

 The objective of the UMass Boston General Education Program is to provide you with a strong foundation for success in future courses and in your career. There is not a set group of courses that you must take. Instead, the flexible approach to general education is built around building skills in:

• critical analysis and logical thought
• verbal and quantitative reasoning
• human diversity and
• principal approaches to knowledge in the areas of:

     • mathematics and natural sciences
     • social and behavioral sciences
     • arts and humanities
     • world languages and cultures

Courses that focus on these learning outcomes have been approved by the faculty as general education courses (in specific areas). Overall, your general education courses should comprise about one-third of your total courses at UMass Boston.