General Education Curriculum

Step One: The Curriculum
The General Education Curriculum is an educational experience shared by all City College students. It is comprised of introductory coursework designed to give you the fundamental skills and background you need to pursue advanced work of the major or upper-level elective work, and to instill a habit of mind that sees all areas of knowledge as interrelated.  You will be able to choose from a selection of courses that build fundamental skills, such as writing, research, critical thinking and quantitative reasoning, while introducing different categories of knowledge.

The City College General Education Requirement includes:

1. FIQWS: Freshman Inquiry Writing Seminar is a 6 credit course that combines one of a variety of subjects with intensive writing (FIQWS Engineering, FIQWS 10026 is a 4 credit course for students in the School of Engineering)
2. Math 
3. Perspectives: a selection of courses taken from a list of areas of study.

There are variations in the General Education Requirement depending on the degree you will pursue ie., BA/BFA; BS; or BARCH.  Other variations are followed by students pursuing different degrees in the School of Education, the School of Engineering or students in the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. For these requirements, please contact the advisors in those schools.

Click here o learn about General Education Learning Outcomes.

Other components of the General Education Curriculum include:
 

The Foreign Language Requirement
The Speech Requirement: Speech 11100 or Speech 00308 or passing the Speech Proficiency Exam (for more information, see your advisor)

No longer a requirement: The CUNY Proficiency Examination
 

Information for Transfer students

Students who transfer from a CUNY community college with an A.A. or A.S. degree have completed the General Education requirements and do not need to take any General Education courses at City College. Other transfer students will have their transcripts evaluated and will be given credit for General Education courses taken at another institution. Your advisor will let you know what general education courses you still might need to take at City College to satisfy this requirement.

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