two students walking outside a building on campus

Academic Catalog

General Education Requirements

Washburn’s General Education program provides all students with a breadth of knowledge across all the Student Learning Outcomes. Beginning in academic year 2024-25, Washburn’s General Education program aligns with the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) Systemwide General Education framework.

For all baccalaureate, associate of science, associate of arts, and associate of liberal studies degrees, students will complete 34-35 hours of General Education, consisting of the following:

  1. EN 101 Introductory College Writing and EN 200 Intermediate College Writing (6 credit hours of English), and
  2. CN 101 Introduction to Communication Studies or CN 150 Public Speaking or CN 151 Introduction to Interpersonal Communication or CN 351 Special Topics in Interpersonal Communication (3 credit hours of Communication Studies), and
  3. MA 112 Contemporary College Mathematics or higher (3 credit hours of Mathematics or Statistics), and
  4. 4-5 credit hours of Natural Science with a laboratory component, and
  5. 6 credit hours of Social Sciences courses, from at least two disciplines, and
  6. 6 credit hours of Arts and Humanities courses, from at least two disciplines, and
  7. 6 credit hours of institutionally designated coursework, from at least two disciplines:
    1. 3 credit hours from Inclusion and Belonging distribution area, and
    2. 3 credit hours from Scientific Literacy distribution area.

Courses in areas 1-3 above may not be taken as A/credit/pass/fail and a grade of ‘C’ or better must be earned.

For associate of applied science degrees, students will complete 15 hours of General Education, consisting of the following:

  1. EN 101 Introductory College Writing, and
  2. MA 112 Contemporary College Mathematics or higher, and
  3. At least 9 hours of additional general education courses from three of the following areas, and from at least three different disciplines:
    1. Communications
    2. Natural Sciences
    3. Social Sciences
    4. Arts and Humanities
    5. Inclusion and Belonging
    6. Scientific Reasoning and Literacy.

Courses in areas 1 and 2 above may not be taken as A/credit/pass/fail and a ‘C’ or better must be earned.

Students should check with their major department; in some cases, courses required by the major department will also fulfill specific General Education requirements.