General Education Requirements
Ohio University believes that, as an educated person, you need certain intellectual skills in order to participate effectively in society. These include the following:
- The ability to communicate effectively through the written word and the ability to use quantitative or symbolic reasoning.
- Broad knowledge of the major fields of learning.
- A capacity for evaluation and synthesis.
To help you meet these objectives, Ohio University has instituted a three–tiered General Education requirement that all baccalaureate degree students (except those in Honors Tutorial College) must fulfill. Tier I course requirements build your quantitative and English composition skills; Tier II course requirements increase your breadth of knowledge; and the Tier III course requirement develops your ability to interrelate, synthesize, and integrate knowledge from different academic disciplines.
Tier I Requirements
Quantitative Skills . You must demonstrate or acquire an acceptable level of quantitative skills to satisfy graduation requirements. The University uses your ACT or SAT (see chart below) math score to determine your skill level for placement or exemption unless the Tier I quantitative skills requirement has been satisfied by transfer or advanced placement credit. Students in some majors are required to have a math placement regardless of transfer or advanced placement credit in order to meet requisite requirements. The choice of the course in which you should enroll, if any, depends on your major, catalog of entry, and math placement, and it should be discussed with your academic advisor.
Students without ACT scores, SAT scores, advanced placement, or a transferable math course must take an online math placement test . Direct questions to the placement testing coordinator, University College, 740.593.1935. Regional campus students should contact their student services offices.
| Math Placement Level |
Minimum ACT Math Score needed |
Minimum SAT Math Score needed |
|---|---|---|
| DV |
0 |
0 |
| PL1 |
20 |
480 |
| PL2 |
24 |
560 |
| PL3 |
30 |
680 |
To enroll in any MATH or other quantitative skills course, you must either place at the specific level required for that course or satisfy the appropriate requisites.
Placement levels are:
DV (Developmental): Placement at this level indicates inadequate preparation to enroll in a Tier I quantitative skills course. You must complete MATH D005 before enrolling in a Tier I quantitative skills course.
PL1 (Placement Level 1): Placement at this level indicates preparation for any of the following Tier I–fulfilling courses: MATH 1090 , 1101 , 1102 (early childhood education majors only), 1200 , 1250 , 1260 , 1321 , PHIL 1200 , PSY 1110 .
Note: Students who need MATH 1350 (Survey of Calculus) should enroll first in MATH 1200 and then take MATH 1350 . Students who need MATH 2301 should begin with MATH 1350 (B or better) or 1300 (C or better) or 1322 (C or better) and then MATH 2301 .
PL2 (Placement Level 2): Placement at this level indicates preparation for Level 1 courses as well as these additional Tier I–fulfilling courses: MATH 1300 , 1322 , 1350 , 2500 , PSY 2110 .
Note: MATH 1300 is the requisite course for MATH 2301 . MATH 1300 is not recommended unless you plan on enrolling in MATH 2301 . Students cannot earn credit for both MATH 1350 and 2301 .
PL3 (Placement Level 3): Placement at this level demonstrates quantitative skill competence sufficient to fulfill the Tier I quantitative skills requirement. If your major requires that you enroll in a quantitative skills course, placement at Level 3 indicates preparation for MATH 2301 and any course in Level 1 or 2. A Level 3 placement does not guarantee a waiver of college or major requirements in mathematics. Contact your college student services office to see if a college waiver is in effect for your major.
English Composition. A first–year composition course and an advanced junior–level composition course are required. Either ENG 1510 or 1610 (for non-native English speakers only) will satisfy the University’s General Education first–year writing requirement (1E).
You can complete the university’s junior-level composition requirement by passing an approved junior composition (J) course, by passing two junior composition equivalency (JE) courses within your program of study, or by passing one JE course within your program of study and one JE course outside your program of study, as approved by your department/school. You may use two JE courses outside your program of study, providing both courses are approved by your departments/school. You may also demonstrate advanced writing proficiency by passing the junior–level exemption exam .
The following courses fulfill the junior–level composition requirement and are marked in this catalog with the designation (1J) as the general education code:
Art: ART 3000J
Aviation: AVN 3250J
Chemical Engineering: CHE 2010 , 4110
Classics and World Religions: CLWR 3850J
Communication Studies: COMS 3400 , 3500 , 3600
Economics: ECON 3100J
Education - Early Childhood: EDEC 4200
Education - Honors Program: EDHP 3930J
English: ENG 3060J , 3070J , 3080J , 3090J , 3100J , 3840J
Engineering and Technology: ET 3800J
Engineering Technology and Management: ETM 3700J
Environmental and Plant Biology: PBIO 4180J , 4181J
Film: FILM 3440J
Honors College: HC 3000J
History: HIST 3111J
Health: HLTH 3400J
Human and Consumer Sciences: CONS 3450J
Industrial and Systems Engineering: ISE 2100 , 3340
Interdisciplinary Arts: IART 3600J
Journalism: JOUR 3310 , 3500 , 3630 , 3700 , 4410J , 4650 , 4700
Mechanical Engineering: ME 3510 , 4880
Modern Language: ML 3210J , 3270J
Nursing, Baccalaureate Program: NRSE 3700J
Philosophy: PHIL 3010J
Political Science: POLS 3050J
Professional Communication: PRCM 3250J
Recreation: REC 3700J
Science in Applied Management: SAM 3250J
Sociology: SOC 3560J
The following courses are eligible to help fulfill the junior-level composition requirement as JE courses and are marked in this catalog with the designation (1JE) as the general education code:
Chemical Engineering: CHE 2010 , 4110
Communication Studies: COMS 3400 , 3500 , 3600
Education - Early Childhood: EDEC 4200
Industrial and Systems Engineering: ISE 2100 , 3340
Journalism: JOUR 3310 , 3500 , 3630 , 3700 , 4650 , 4700
Mechanical Engineering: ME 3510 , 4880
If you are a transfer student, your requirements are determined by when you enroll and the number and type of credit hours transferred.
Tier II Requirements
You are required to complete a total of 21 credit hours from an approved list of courses in the following six distribution areas:
You are required to take at least two credit hours in each of the six areas and may satisfy no more than two of the required six areas with courses from the same department/school. You may satisfy no more than 8 of the 21 hours with courses from the same department/school.
You may apply no more than two approved Tier II courses in your major department/school or area of concentration (for B.S.S. students) toward partial fulfillment of the Tier II requirement.
Approved courses are marked in the Course Descriptions section with 2AS, 2CP, 2FA, 2HL, 2NS, or 2SS as the general education code. The following courses fulfill the Tier II breadth of knowledge requirement:
Applied Science and Mathematics (2AS)
Biological Sciences: BIOS 2050 , 2200 , 2210 , 2215 , 2250 , 2350
Chemistry and Biochemistry: CHEM 1010
Computer Science: CS 2300
Communication Sciences and Disorders: CSD 1080
Electrical Engineering: EE 1014
Environmental and Plant Biology: PBIO 1030 , 2140 , 3140
Environmental Health: EH 2000
Engineering and Technology: ET 2300 , 2800
Engineering Technology and Management: ETM 1100
Geography: GEOG 1400 , 2600 , 2680
Geological Science: GEOL 1350 , 1700 , 2150 , 2310
Health Sciences - Health: HLTH 2000 , 2020
Industrial and Systems Engineering: ISE 1100 , 3040
Information and Telecommunication Systems: ITS 1010 , 2010
Mathematics: MATH 1350 , 2301 , 2301Y , 2302 , 2302Q ,
Physical Science: PSC 1350
Cross-Cultural Perspectives (2CP)
Anthropology: ANTH 1010 , 2020
Art History: AH 2130 , 3310 , 3400
Classical Archeology: CLAR 1110
Classics and World Religions: CLWR 3330 , 3340 , 3350
Communication Studies: COMS 1100
Dance: DANC 4550
Environmental and Plant Biology: PBIO 2170
Foreign Languages and Literatures:
Arabic: ARAB 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Chinese: CHIN 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
French: FR 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
German: GER 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Hindi-Urdu: HIND 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Indonesian Malaysian: INDO 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Italian: ITAL 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Japanese: JPN 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Japanese Culture: JPC 2500
Khmer: KHMR 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Kikuyu: KIKU 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Malay: MALA 3110 , 3120 , 3930
Portuguese: PORT 3110 , 3120 , 3180 , 3190
Russian: RUS 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Somali: SOMA 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Spanish: SPAN 2110 , 2120 , 3349
Sudanese: SUDN 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Swahili: SWAH 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Thai: THAI 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120 , 3110 , 3120
Twi: AKAN 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Vietnamese: VIET 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Wolof: WOL 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Zulu: ZULU 1110 , 1120 , 2110 , 2120
Geography: GEOG 1310
History: HIST 1320 , 1330 , 2460 , 3230 , 3231 , 3293 , 3410 , 3411 , 3450 , 3451 , 3452 , 3520
Humanities: HUM 2170
International Literature: Linguistics: ILL 3890
International Studies: INST 1100 , 1114 , 1400 , 1600
Media Arts and Studies: MDIA 3175
Music: MUS 1210
Political Science: POLS 4400
Retail Merchandising and Fashion Product Development: RFPD 1100
Restaurant, Hotel and Tourism: RHT 1200
Fine Arts (2FA)
Dance: DANC 1700 , 2700 , 2710 , 3550 , 4710 , 4711 , 4750
Fine Arts: FAR 1500
Interdisciplinary Arts: 1170 , 1180
Music: MUS 1000 , 1200 , 1240 , 1250
Theater: THAR 1130 , 1710 , 1720 , 1730 , 2710 , 2711
Humanities and Literature (2HL)
African American Studies: AAS 1100 , 1500 , 2100 , 2110 , 2500 , 3500
College of Arts and Sciences: CAS 1110 , 1120
Classics and World Religions: CLWR 1810 , 2210 , 2220 , 3310 , 3320
Communication Studies: COMS 1010 , 1030
English: ENG 1600 , 2010 , 2020
Film: FILM 2030
Foreign Languages and Literatures:
Classics: CLAS 2300 , 2310 , 2340 , 2520 , 2530 , 2540 , 2550
International Literature: Modern Languages: ILML 2901 , 2902 , 2903 , 2904 , 2905 , 2906
History: HIST 1210 , 1220 , 1221
Jewish Studies: JS 1000 , 2100
Modern Language: ML 2338
Philosophy: PHIL 1010 , 1300 , 2160 , 2320 , 2400 , 2600 , 3100 , 3110 , 3120 , 3140
Visual Communication: VICO 1000
Women’s and Gender Studies: WGS 1000
Natural Sciences (2NS)
Anthropology: ANTH 2010
Astronomy: ASTR 1000 , 1001 , 1400
Biology: BIOL 1010
Biological Sciences: BIOS 1000 , 1030 , 1300 , 1310 , 1700 , 1705 , 1710 , 2010 , 2020 , 2030 , 2035 , 2060 , 2100 , 2750
Chemistry and Biochemistry: CHEM 1210 , 1220 , 1510 , 1520
Environmental and Plant Biology: PBIO 1000 , 1000L , 1090 , 1140 , 1150 , 1150Y , 1150Z , 2090
Geological Sciences: GEOL 1010 , 1200 , 1300 , 2080 , 2110 , 2210 , 2710
Physics: PHYS 2001 , 2001Q 2002 , 2002Q , 2051 , 2051Q , 2052 , 2052Q 2301
Physical Science: PSC 1000 , 1001 , 1010 , 1011 , 1050 , 1051 , 1310 , 1400 , 2050
Social Sciences (2SS)
African American Studies: AAS 1010 , 2020
Child and Family Studies: CFS 2700 , 2710
Classical Archeology: CLAR 2110 , 2120 , 2130
Communication Studies: COMS 3601 , 3602 , 3603
Economics: ECON 1000 , 1030 , 1040
Education - Early Childhood: EDEC 1600
Human and Consumer Science: CONS 2500
Journalism: JOUR 1050
Linguistics: LING 2700
Media Arts and Studies: MDIA 1091 , 2012 , 2305
Management: MGT 2000
Political Science: POLS 1010 , 1500 , 2000 , 2300 , 2500 , 2700 , 4300
Psychology: PSY 1010
Recreation: REC 2010
Social Work: SW 1000
Tier III Requirement
You are required to complete at least three hours in Tier III or Tier III–equivalent course(s). At least two of the three hours must be taken at senior rank (90 hours). This catalog contains a complete list of Tier III and equivalent courses available by going to Course Descriptions and placing T3 in the keyword or phrase search or by clicking here . Approved courses are marked in the Course Descriptions section with T3 as the general education code. You may fulfill this requirement by taking at least 3 hours in Tier III–equivalent course(s) in your major; you should see your major advisor for information as to whether your discipline offers such a course or courses.