Academic Catalog

General Education

The University of Mary Washington has three different sets of general education requirements.

The general education requirements for Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Science in Education degrees apply to all students who are seeking to earn an undergraduate B.A., B.S., or BSEd degree.

Students seeking a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree have a separate set of BLS general education requirements.

The general education course list indicates the courses that satisfy a particular general education requirements for the B.A., B.S., BSEd, and BLS degree programs.

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program have a separate set of BSN general education requirements.

It’s helpful for students to remember that they have four years to fulfill all graduation requirements. Completion of general education requirements and the major should not be viewed as two separate activities. In fact, many of the courses that satisfy general education requirements will connect well with the intended major program of study.

"Double Counting" General Education Courses

Courses identified as "across the curriculum" (ATC) courses -- those marked as Writing Intensive (WI), Speaking Intensive (SI), Digital Intensive (DI) or Diverse and Global Perspectives (DGP) -- will be counted as meeting both the ATC requirement and a Method of Investigation category requirement. For example, if a course was listed as an Arts and Literature option, and it was marked as Writing Intensive (WI), it would be counted in both of those categories. 

Taking general education courses on a pass/fail basis 

In the B.A., B.S., and BSEd degree programs, the only general education courses that may be taken on pass/fail basis on ones being used to meet the Beyond the Classroom and After Mary Washington requirements. All other general education courses must be taken for a letter (A-F) grade. 

In the BLS and BSN degree programs, no general education courses may be taken on a pass/fail basis.