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2025-2026 Catalog

General Education Requirements

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SUNY General Education Framework

The State University of New York’s overarching goal is to empower students to meet the changing demands of the 21st century. Embedded in this goal is SUNY’s commitment to broad access to the highest quality education, deep and engaged learning, and overall student success.

SUNY General Education supports these goals by creating a system‐wide framework applicable to all SUNY undergraduate degree programs that address the fundamental aims of postsecondary undergraduate education, including proficiency with essential skills and competencies, familiarization with disciplinary and interdisciplinary ways of knowing, and enhancement of the values and disposition of an engaged 21st-century global citizenry.

Moreover, SUNY General Education promotes equity by equipping SUNY undergraduates, regardless of background, program of study, or campus, with foundational capacities fostered through a broad liberal education to prepare them for further study, work, life, and global citizenship. It encourages students to explore subjects and learning experiences beyond their intended major and fosters a commitment to personal growth and life‐long learning.

Importantly, SUNY General Education supports seamless transfer of students between and among SUNY institutions and it ensures consistency in expected system‐level learning outcomes while enabling individual campuses to develop unique signature features, including their respective array of educational offerings and pedagogical approaches.

Community college students who have not completed the General Education Framework requirements in two years are eligible to transfer to a four-year SUNY college or university, but they are required to fulfill General Education Framework requirements while at the four-year school. Students are advised to complete this fulfillment at the community college level to make room for academic major requirements at the four-year level.

SUNY General Education Knowledge and Skills Areas, and Core Competencies

Knowledge and Skills Areas - first four required

  1. Communication - written and oral

  2. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice

  3. Mathematics (and quantitative reasoning)

  4. Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning)

  5. Humanities

  6. Social Sciences

  7. The Arts

  8. US History and Civic Engagement

  9. World History and Global Awareness

  10. World Languages

Core Competencies - required

  1. Critical Thinking and Reasoning

  2. Information Literacy (Revised, effective Fall 2026)

  3. Civic Discourse (New, effective Fall 2026)

General Education Requirements based on degree type:

For A.A.  degree programs, the following credit and category requirements apply:

  • At least 45 credits of SUNY GE‐approved Liberal Arts and Sciences

  • A minimum of seven (of ten) Knowledge and Skills Areas, including the four specifically required Knowledge and Skills Areas

  • The two core competencies (pre-Fall 2026) and three core competencies (effective Fall 2026)

For A.S. degree programs, the following credit and category requirements apply:

  • At least 30 credits of SUNY GE-approved Liberal Arts and Sciences

  • A minimum of seven (of ten) Knowledge and Skills Areas, including the four specifically required Knowledge and Skills Areas

  • The two core competencies (pre-Fall 2026) and three core competencies (effective Fall 2026)

For A.A.S. degree programs, the following credit and category requirements apply:

  • At least 20 credits of SUNY GE‐approved Liberal Arts and Sciences

  • A minimum of the four (of ten) specifically required Knowledge and Skills Areas

  • The two core competencies (pre-Fall 2026) and three core competencies (effective Fall 2026)

For A.O.S. degree programs, the following credit and category requirements apply:

  • A minimum of zero credits of SUNY GE‐approved Liberal Arts and Sciences

  • A minimum of the four (of ten) specifically required SUNY GE Knowledge and Skills Areas (freestanding courses or embedded)

  • The two core competencies (freestanding courses or embedded, pre-Fall 2026) and three core competencies (freestanding or embedded, effective Fall 2026)

 

The following is the listing of Knowledge and Skills Areas, related Student Learning Outcomes, related SUNY Erie course offerings approved in each Knowledge and Skills Area, and the Core Competencies and their related Institutional Learning Outcomes.

 

I. Knowledge and Skills Areas

 

Communication - Written and Oral (required)

Students will

  • research a topic, develop an argument, and organize supporting details;
  • demonstrate coherent college‐level communication (written and oral) that informs, persuades, or otherwise engages with an audience;
  • evaluate communication for substance, bias, and intended effect; and
  • demonstrate the ability to revise and improve written and oral communication.

Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice (required)

Students will

  • describe the historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of individual and group identity involving race, class, and gender;
  • analyze the role that complex networks of social structures and systems play in the creation and perpetuation of the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity; and
  • apply the principles of rights, access, equity, and autonomous participation to past, current, or future social justice action.

Mathematics (and Quantitative Reasoning) (required)

Students will demonstrate mathematical skills and quantitative reasoning, including the ability to

  • interpret and draw inferences from appropriate mathematical modelssuch as formulas, graphs, tables, or schematics;
  • represent mathematical information symbolically, visually, numerically, or verbally as appropriate; and
  • employ quantitative methods such as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, or statistics tosolve problems.

Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning) (required)

Students will demonstrate scientific reasoning applied to the natural world, including

  • an understanding of the methods scientists use to explore natural phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, and employment of data analysis or mathematical modeling; and
  • application of scientific data, concepts, and models in one of the natural (or physical) sciences

Humanities

Students will

  • demonstrate knowledge of the conventions and methods of at least one of the humanities; and
  • recognize and analyze nuance and complexity of meaning through critical reflections on text, visual images, or artifacts.

Social Sciences

Students will

  • describe major concepts and theories of at least one discipline in the social sciences; and
  • demonstrate an understanding of the methods social scientists use to explore social phenomena.

The Arts

Students will
• demonstrate an understanding of at least one principal form of artistic expression and the creative process inherent therein.

US History and Civic Engagement

Students will

  • demonstrate understanding of United States’ society and/or history, including the diversity of individuals and communities that make up the nation;
  • understand the role of individual participation in US communities and government; and
  • apply historical and contemporary evidence to draw, support, or verify conclusions.

World History and Global Awareness

Students will

  • demonstrate knowledge of a broad outline of world history and/or the development of the distinctive features of at least one civilization or culture in relation to other regions of the world; and
  • demonstrate an understanding of the structures, systems, and interrelationships among civilizations and cultures within historical and/or contemporary contexts, and their impact on wellbeing and sustainability.

World Languages

Students will

  • exhibit basic proficiency in the understanding and use of a world language; and
  • demonstrate knowledge of the distinctive features of culture(s) associated with the language they are studying.

II. Core Competencies

Critical Thinking and Reasoning

Students will

  • clearly articulate an issue or problem;
  • identify, analyze, and evaluate ideas, data, and arguments as they occur in their own or others’ work;
  • acknowledge limitations such as perspective and bias; and
  • develop well‐reasoned (logical) arguments to form judgments and/or draw conclusions.

Information Literacy (revised, effective Fall 2026)

Students will

  • locate information effectively using tools appropriate to their need and discipline;
  • evaluate information from a variety of sources with an awareness of authority, validity, and bias; and
  • demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination, whether from traditional sources or emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

Civic Discourse (new, effective Fall 2026)

Students will demonstrate the discourse skills necessary to participate in civic life, including

  • The deliberation of ideas through reasoned inquiry that seeks new information and considers multiple viewpoints; and,
  • The ethical practice of advocacy, dissent, and dialogue that constructively attends to points of conflict.

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