General Education
John Jay College’s General Education Program aims to ensure that every undergraduate acquires a set of knowledge and skills in common. Students learn fundamental knowledge and skills that are needed for success in college and after graduation. We urge students, except for those in the Forensic Science major who follow a specialized curriculum throughout their undergraduate careers, to complete their general education requirements early. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for more advanced study in majors and minors and helps bolster their academic success.
The General Education program specifies unique institutional learning goals for each student that have been carefully shaped by the College’s mission. Directly related to our mission and at the center of the new program is a justice-based core curriculum. In these courses, students have an opportunity to learn about justice in their lives and in the lives of people across different historical time periods and locales. All students will fulfill requirements in Life and Physical Sciences, English Composition, and Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning. In addition, students will select six liberal arts and sciences courses from the following five categories: World Cultures and Global Issues, the U.S. Experience in its Diversity, Creative Expression, Individual and Society, and the Scientific World.
Students will acquire specific competencies in these areas as they develop skills in research, critical reasoning and oral and written communication across the program.
Note: Students who enrolled at the College before fall 2013 may continue with the general education program that was in effect when they began at the College or may opt in to the current program. Students who are readmitted to the college in the fall 2013 or later are required to follow the new program.