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 Global Engagement element.
Note: Listed below are further specifications related to particular elements of the General Education Program (GenEd).
The First-Year Experience
- FYEP 101, FYEP 102, PLUS 100 and a PLU January Term course must be completed by all students entering PLU as first-year students with fewer than 30 semester hours.
- FYEP 101, 102, and PLUS 100 must be taken in the student’s first year at PLU.
- FYEP 101 is usually taken in the student’s first semester at PLU.
- PLUS 100 must be taken in the student’s first semester. Failing or withdrawing from PLUS 100 will result in the student retaking the course.
- The FYEP 102 may not concurrently count for any other general education requirement, but it may concurrently count for a requirement in a major or minor.
- All first-year students must take a four-semester hour January term course.
- Transfer students are typically not eligible to participate in the First-Year Experience Program regardless of their class standing at matriculation.
- Students who do not successfully complete FYEP 101 must take an approved writing course.
- Students who do not successfully complete FYEP 102 must take an approved diversity course in order to meet the two-course PLU Diversity Education requirement.
The Academic Study of Religion
- All students take four semester hours focused on the Academic Study of Religion (RL).
- The course used to satisfy the RL requirement may not concurrently count for any other general education requirement.
- Transfer students entering as juniors or seniors must take four semester hours from the Academic Study of Religion (RL); this requirement must be completed at PLU and may not be met by courses taken at another university.
Fitness and Wellness
- 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.
- The courses used to satisfy the FT requirement may not concurrently count for any other GenEd requirement.
Global Engagement
- Global Engagement is the second course in the PLU Diversity Requirement.
- Students must complete four semester hours from Global Engagement (GE).
- Some Global Engagement courses may concurrently count toward Ways of Being and Knowing.
- Only approved study away courses will meet the Global Engagement requirement. Approval is indicated by the GE attribute on the course.
- Transfer students entering as juniors or seniors must take four semester hours from Global Engagement (GE); this requirement must be completed at PLU and may not be met by courses taken at another university.
Ways of Being and Knowing: The Distributional Core
- The six Ways of Being and Knowing requirements must be taken from six different program prefixes.
- All students will take one course in the Academic Study for Religion (RL). An additional Religion course may be used to satisfy one of the Ways of Being and Knowing.
- Engaging the Natural World (NW) courses require a lab, field experience, or applied learning component.
- If the student scores a 70 or higher on the Mathematics Placement Evaluation, that student will have their Quantitative Reasoning (QR) requirement met.
The Senior Culminating Experience
- Students are required to complete at least one senior culminating experience course (SR).
- Senior culminating experience courses may be between one and four semester hours.
- With approval of the student’s major department, an interdisciplinary culminating experience course such as the Global Studies Research Seminar may fulfill this element.