For students enrolled beginning Fall 2012

All degree programs require the completion of ten 4-credit General Education courses: three Core courses and seven Distribution courses. Students must also complete the Second Language requirement. A Writing in the Discipline requirement is also included in General Education and is a part of each major.

Core Requirement

First Year Seminar (FYS)
FYS 100 is required in the freshman year, with sections on a wide variety of topics. Each section is discussion-based, focused on developing critical thinking, oral communication, research fluency, and written communication. FYS 100 will not be offered in the summer or the early spring sessions. Students who enter the college as transfer students are not considered first-year students and are exempt from this requirement. Courses are limited to at twenty students.

First Year Writing (FYW)
FYW 100 is required in freshman year. It introduces students to college-level writing and helps them develop the writing skills needed for success in college courses. Successful completion of the course (a final grade of C or better) will also meet the college's Writing Requirement. Courses are limited to twenty students.

Connections (C)
Courses in the Connections category are upper-level courses on topics that emphasize comparative perspectives, such as across disciplines, across time, and across cultures. Students must complete the FYS and FYW courses and must have earned at least 45 college credits before taking a Connections course.

Distribution Requirement

Students are required to take one course in each of the following seven areas:

• Arts – Visual and Performing
• History
• Literature
• Mathematics
• Natural Science (lab required)
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Advanced Quantitative/Scientific Reasoning

Distribution courses emphasize ways of thinking and methods of inquiry within various disciplines

Second Language Requirement

Rhode Island College graduates are expected to communicate in and understand a language other than English at a novice-mid proficiency level. The Second language requirement of General Education is designed to meet that expectation.

The Second Language Requirement may be fulfilled in any of the following ways:

1. 1. By completing RIC language courses 101(if necessary) and 102 (or 110), with a minimum grade of C. Students who have had prior work in a language should contact Modern Languages for placement tests to see what level course they should take.
2. Through transfer credit from an accredited college or university.
3. Through transfer credit of a second language course from an approved study abroad program.
4. Through Advanced Placement (AP) credit. If students score three or higher on the AP Test in French, German, or Spanish, RIC will award 6 credits (equivalent to RIC language courses 113 and 114). Students who wish to receive credit for language courses 101 and 102 will have to take the CLEP Test.
5. Through Early Enrollment Program credit for language courses 113 or 114. Students who wish to receive credit for language courses 101 and 102 will have to take the CLEP Test.
6. By completing the CLEP Test in French, German, or Spanish, with a score on the Level I test of 50 or higher.
7. By completing the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and the written exam for languages for which there are no CLEP or AP Tests. Level: OPI (offered in 65 languages): Novice Mid to High. Written test: Novice High (offered in twelve languages).
8. By completing the SAT II Subject Test (scores vary according to language).
9. Foreign/International students must submit an official high school transcript from a non-English-speaking country of origin.

Don't know what language course to take? Take the Language Placement Test. This test is only offered in three languages and it tells students what level to take.

Writing in the Discipline

Each department has identified a required course or courses at the 200-level or above within the major in which students learn to write for that discipline. Since writing is integrated into the disciplinary program students meet this requirement in the process of completing their majors. Click for more information about Writing in the Discipline.

General Education Categories

Courses that fulfill General Education requirements have the appropriate notation in the course description following credit hours:

Gen. Ed. Category A (Arts – Visual and Performing)
Gen. Ed. Category AQSR (Advanced Quantitative/Scientific Reasoning)
Gen. Ed. Category C (Connections)
Gen. Ed. Category FYS (First Year Seminar)
Gen. Ed. Category FYW (First Year Writing)
Gen. Ed. Category H (History)
Gen. Ed. Category L (Literature)
Gen. Ed. Category M (Mathematics)
Gen. Ed. Category NS (Natural Science)
Gen. Ed. Category SB (Social and Behavioral Sciences)
Gen. Ed. Category W (Writing)

Transfer Students

Transfer Students may determine their status with respect to General Education requirements by inquiring at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions or at the office of the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Core Requirements

Distribution Requirements