All students must satisfactorily complete the General Education Program. No course used to satisfy one General Education Program element may be used to satisfy another except for the Encountering Perspectives on Diversity element.
Note: Listed below are further specifications related to particular elements of the General Education Program (GenEd).
- Embracing the Life of the Mind: First-Year Experience Program (FW, F) (4):
- The Writing Seminar is usually taken in the student’s first semester at PLU.
- The Inquiry Seminar must be taken in the student’s first January Term or first Spring Semester.
- Both seminars must be completed during the student’s first year at PLU.
- Students must take a four semester hour PLU January Term course.
- The Writing Seminar, the Inquiry Seminar, and a PLU January Term course must be completed by all students entering PLU as first-year students with fewer than 30 semester hours.
- Transfer students are typically not eligible to participate in the First-Year Experience Program regardless of their class standing at matriculation.
- In addition to fulfilling an FYEP requirement, the Writing Seminar fulfills the four-hour Writing requirement (WR) required of all PLU students. Students who do not successfully complete the Writing Seminar must take a course designated WR to fulfill the PLU Writing requirement.
- Engaging Arts and Performance (8):
- Arts, Music, Theatre (AR) – four semester hours from arts, music or theatre are required.
- Fitness and Wellness (FT) – two different fitness and wellness activity courses, of which one must be FTWL 100.
- FTWL 250 may not be used to meet the general education fitness and wellness requirement.
- Interpreting Living Traditions for a Humane Future (16):
- Literature (LT) – four semester hours from English or Languages & Literatures courses designated as meeting the element.
- Philosophy (PH) – logic and critical thinking courses do not fulfill this element.
- Religion (RC, RG) – students take one course in Christian Traditions and one course in Global Religious Traditions.
- Transfer Students and Religion GenEd Element – transfer students entering as juniors or seniors must take four semester hours from Christian Traditions (RC) unless presenting eight transfer semester hours of religion from another regionally-accredited college or university. Global Religious Traditions (RG) courses will not fulfill the General Education Program element in religion if transferring into PLU with a junior or senior standing.
- Exploring Nature and Number (12):
- Mathematical Reasoning (MR) – element may be satisfied by the completion of the equivalent of four years of college preparatory mathematics with grades of C or higher (through mathematical analysis, precalculus, or calculus or equivalent) in high school.
- Natural Sciences (NS) – may or may not have a lab section.
- Scientific Method (SM) – requires a separate lab.
- At least one course taken to fulfill the NS or SM element must be a physical or biological science.
- Investigating Human Behavior, Culture, and Institutions (8):
- Two Social Sciences (SO) courses must be chosen from different disciplines.
- Encountering Perspectives on Diversity (8):
- Students must complete four semester hours from Alternative Perspectives and four semester hours from Cross-Cultural Perspectives.
- Alternative Perspectives (A) – course may concurrently fulfill another General Education Program element or major/minor requirement.
- Cross-Cultural (C) – course may concurrently fulfill another General Education Program element or major/ minor requirement.
- The Cross-Cultural Perspectives element may be fulfilled by participation in an approved semester-long study away program. Only January term study away courses that carry the C designator fulfill the Cross-Cultural Perspective.
- Transfer Students entering as juniors or seniors must take one Encountering Perspectives on Diversity course (four semester hours) at PLU that can also simultaneously fulfill another GenEd element or major/minor requirement.
- Producing and Presenting Culminating Scholarship: Senior Seminar/Project (SR):
- With approval of the student’s major department, interdisciplinary capstone course such as the Global Studies Research Seminar may fulfill this element.