General Education

Understanding General Education

Choosing a GE pathway isn’t just about checking boxes. It’s an opportunity to explore ideas beyond your major, connect courses around a shared theme, and shape part of your education around your interests.

This page explains the structure behind General Education (GE) at Chico State so you can understand your options and select courses that fit your goals.

  • Mission and Strategy

    Mission
    The General Education (GE) program at Chico State prepares students for continual learning and application of knowledge to career as well as personal life. It equitably provides for all students the education necessary for success as a civically and globally engaged individual and as a lifelong learner.

    Strategy
    Chico State students acquire a strong foundation in critical thinking, written and oral communication, and the arts and sciences through inquiry about and engagement with the social and natural worlds we inhabit. This is achieved through study, reflection, synthesis, and action related to knowledge from varied historical, cultural, scientific, social, and political perspectives.

    The GE Program incorporates and fosters active and intentional engagement with the values of:

    • Intellectual curiosity: Asking questions, seeking answers, contemplating, and pursuing investigations with intellectual rigor, while making connections between cognitive and personal development, both inside and outside traditional instructional settings.
    • Civic engagement: Participating in activities of personal and public concern that are both individually enriching and beneficial to our various local, regional, national, and international communities.
    • Sustainability: Being an engaged member of society informed by a systems approach to balancing environmental responsibility, social justice, economic feasibility, and cultural diversity.
    • Diversity: Understanding the intersectionality and complexities of differences among people, such as those based on race, ethnicity, ability, age, class, culture, gender identity and expression, political affiliation, regional and national origin, religion, and sexuality.
    • Creativity: Cultivating artistic expression, imaginative and divergent ideas, interdisciplinary connections, and a willingness to take intellectual risks, contextualizing innovation within the larger history of ideas.
    • Global engagement: Using cultural knowledge and linguistics skills to understand and successfully engage with global cultures both professionally and personally and to contribute as responsible global citizens.

    Program Learning Outcomes
    The Program Learning Outcomes for the GE program flow from the recognition that certain essential intellectual and practical skills rest at the foundation of a high-quality GE program. These include effective written and oral communication, critical thinking, information literacy, and quantitative reasoning skills.

    • Oral communication: Demonstrates the ability to speak publicly in both formal and informal contexts in order to increase knowledge, foster understanding, or promote change in the listener’s attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors.
    • Written communication: Demonstrates the ability to develop and communicate well-reasoned ideas effectively in a variety of written genres appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
    • Critical thinking: Demonstrates the ability to assess the relevance and strength of claims in written texts, visual media, and other forms of discourse.
    • Quantitative reasoning: Demonstrates knowledge of and applies mathematical or statistical methods to describe, analyze, and solve problems in context.
    • Information literacy: Demonstrates the abilities to recognize when there is a need for information; to identify, locate, and evaluate information; and to effectively, responsibly, and ethically use and share information for the question at hand.

    The mix of approved GE courses shall fully cover these five areas. These PLOs shall be assessed on a regular basis, using validated instruments, rubrics, and benchmarks, so that all PLOs are assessed within a five-year period.

  • Description of GE Subject Areas

    GE subject areas are defined in Executive Order 1100 as follows:

    Beginning FA25

    Area 1 English Communication [English composition (1A), critical thinking (1B) and oral communication (1C)] Students taking courses in fulfillment of Areas 1A and 1C will develop knowledge and understanding of the form, content, context, and effectiveness of communication. Students will develop proficiency in oral and written communication in English, examining communication from the rhetorical perspective and practicing reasoning and advocacy, organization, and accuracy. Students will enhance their skills and abilities in the discovery, critical evaluation, and reporting of information, as well as reading, writing, and listening effectively. Coursework must include active participation and practice in both written communication and oral communication in English.

    In critical thinking (1B) courses, students will understand logic and its relation to language; elementary inductive and deductive processes, including an understanding of the formal and informal fallacies of language and thought, and the ability to distinguish matters of fact from issues of judgment or opinion. In 1B courses, students will develop the abilities to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas; to reason inductively and deductively; and to reach well-supported factual or judgmental conclusions.

    Area 2 Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning Through courses in Subject Area 2, students shall demonstrate the abilities to reason quantitatively, practice computational skills, and explain and apply mathematical or quantitative reasoning concepts to solve problems. In addition to traditional mathematics, Subject Area 2 courses may include computer science, personal finance, statistics or discipline-based mathematics or quantitative reasoning courses.

    Area 3 Arts & Humanities Across the disciplines in Subject Area 3 coursework, students will cultivate intellect, imagination, sensibility and sensitivity. Students will respond subjectively as well as objectively to aesthetic experiences and will develop an understanding of the integrity of both emotional and intellectual responses. Students will cultivate and refine their affective, cognitive, and physical faculties through studying works of the human imagination. In their intellectual and subjective considerations, students will develop a better understanding of the interrelationship between the self and the creative arts and of the humanities in a variety of cultures.

    Activities may include participation in individual aesthetic, creative experiences; however, Area 3 excludes courses that exclusively emphasize skills development. Students may take courses in languages other than English in partial fulfillment of this requirement if the courses do not focus solely on skills acquisition and integrate a substantial cultural component. This may include literature, among other content.

    Area 4 Social and Behavioral Sciences Students learn from courses in multiple Subject Area 4 disciplines that human social, political and economic institutions, and behavior are inextricably interwoven. Through fulfillment of the Subject Area 4 requirement, students will develop an understanding of problems and issues from the respective disciplinary perspectives and will examine issues in their contemporary as well as historical settings and in a variety of cultural contexts. Students will explore the principles, methodologies, value systems and ethics employed in social scientific inquiry. Courses that emphasize skills development and professional preparation are excluded from Subject Area 4.

    Area 5 Physical and Biological Sciences Subject Area 5 courses focus on scientific theories, concepts and data about the physical and biological aspects of the world. Through their courses in Subject Area 5 disciplines, students will achieve an understanding and appreciation of scientific principles and the scientific method, as well as the potential limits of scientific endeavors and the value systems and ethics associated with human inquiry.

    The Subject Area 5 laboratory must support learning by exposing students to scientific inquiry, the empirical nature of science, and hands-on experiences in any instructional modality (see 3.2).

    Area 6 Ethnic Studies To be approved for this requirement, courses shall have the following course prefixes: African American, Asian American, Latino/a American or Native American Studies. Similar course prefixes (e.g., Pan- African Studies, American Indian Studies, Chicano/a Studies, Ethnic Studies) shall also meet this requirement. Courses without ethnic studies prefixes may meet this requirement if cross-listed with a course with an ethnic studies prefix. Courses that are approved to meet this requirement shall meet at least 3 of the 5 following core competencies. Campuses may add additional competencies to those listed.

    1. Analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno- centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti-racism as analyzed in any one or more of the following: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina and Latino American Studies.
    2. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived-experiences and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation.
    3. Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities.
    4. Critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced and enacted by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler-colonialism, multiculturalism, or language policies.
    5. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American, African American, Asian American and/or Latina and Latino communities to build a just and equitable society.

    As described in Article 6, CSU campuses may certify upper-division ethnic studies courses to satisfy the lower-division Subject Area 6 requirement so long as adequate numbers of lower-division course options are available to students. As described in Article 2, ethnic studies courses required in majors, minors or that satisfy campus-wide requirements and are approved for Subject Area 6 credit shall also fulfill (double count for) this requirement.

    Before FA25:

    A1 Oral Communication & A2 Written Communication Students taking courses in fulfillment of Subareas A1 and A2 will develop knowledge and understanding of the form, content, context and effectiveness of communication. Students will develop proficiency in oral and written communication in English, examining communication from the rhetorical perspective and practicing reasoning and advocacy, organization, and accuracy. Students will enhance their skills and abilities in the discovery, critical evaluation, and reporting of information, as well as reading, writing, and listening effectively. Coursework must include active participation and practice in both written communication and oral communication in English.

    A3 Critical Thinking In critical thinking courses, students will understand logic and its relation to language; elementary inductive and deductive processes, including an understanding of the formal and informal fallacies of language and thought; and the ability to distinguish matters of fact from issues of judgment or opinion. In A3 courses, students will develop the abilities to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas; to reason inductively and deductively; and to reach well-supported factual or judgmental conclusions.

    B1 Physical Science, B2 Life Science, & B3 Laboratory Activity  In Subareas B1-B3, students develop knowledge of scientific theories, concepts, and data about both living and non-living systems. Students will achieve an understanding and appreciation of scientific principles and the scientific method, as well as the potential limits of scientific endeavors and the value systems and ethics associated with human inquiry. The nature and extent of laboratory experience is to be determined by each campus through its established curricular procedures.

    B4 Mathematics/Quantitiative Reasoning Through courses in Subarea B4 students shall demonstrate the abilities to reason quantitatively, practice computational skills, and explain and apply mathematical or quantitative reasoning concepts to solve problems. Courses in this Subarea shall include a prerequisite reflective only of skills and knowledge required in the course. In addition to traditional mathematics, courses in Subarea B4 may include computer science, personal finance, statistics or discipline-based mathematics or quantitative reasoning courses, for example.

    C1 Arts & C2 Humanities Across the disciplines in Area C coursework, students will cultivate intellect, imagination, sensibility and sensitivity. Students will respond subjectively as well as objectively to aesthetic experiences and will develop an understanding of the integrity of both emotional and intellectual responses. Students will cultivate and refine their affective, cognitive, and physical faculties through studying works of the human imagination. In their intellectual and subjective considerations, students will develop a better understanding of the interrelationship between the self and the creative arts and of the humanities in a variety of cultures. Activities may include participation in individual aesthetic, creative experiences; however, Area C excludes courses that exclusively emphasize skills development. Students may take courses in languages other than English in partial fulfillment of this requirement if the courses do not focus solely on skills acquisition but also contain a substantial cultural component. This may include literature, among other content.

    D Social Sciences Students learn from courses in multiple Area D disciplines that human social, political and economic institutions and behavior are inextricably interwoven. Through fulfillment of the Area D requirement, students will develop an understanding of problems and issues from the respective disciplinary perspectives and will examine issues in their contemporary as well as historical settings and in a variety of cultural contexts. Students will explore the principles, methodologies, value systems and ethics employed in social scientific inquiry. Courses that emphasize skills development and professional preparation are excluded from Area D.

    E Lifelong Learning & Self Development This requirement is designed to equip learners for lifelong understanding and development of themselves as integrated physiological, social, and psychological beings. Physical activity may be included, if it is an integral part of the study elements described herein. Content may include topics such as student success strategies, human behavior, sexuality, nutrition, physical and mental health, stress management, information literacy, social relationships and relationships with the environment, as well as implications of death and dying or avenues for lifelong learning. Courses in this area shall focus on the development of skills, abilities and dispositions.

    F Ethnic Studies Courses that are approved to meet this requirement shall meet at least 3 of the 5 the following core competencies. Campuses may add additional competencies to those listed.

    1. Analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno-centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti-racism as analyzed in any one or more of the following: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina and Latino American Studies.
    2. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived-experiences and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation.
    3. Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities.
    4. Critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced and enacted by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler-colonialism, multiculturalism, language policies.
    5. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American, African American, Asian American and/or Latina and Latino communities and a just and equitable society.
  • What it means to satisfy diversity requirements

    From Presidential EM 25-002

    American institutions
    At Chico State, the following are offered to fulfill the American Institutions graduation requirement mandated by Title 5: one course in US History, offered by the History Department, and one course in US Constitution and California State and Local Government, offered by the Political Science and Criminal Justice Department.Diversity graduation requirement

    The principal goal of this requirement is for students to gain insight into intercultural relations and the variety of cultures and peoples present both in the United States and the world at large. This requirement will be met by taking two courses. Upper-division Pathways should include courses that allow transfer students to complete this requirement without taking additional courses.

    Students must complete both of the following two aspects of the Diversity Requirement (two courses):

    • U.S. diversity (USD): One course outside Area F that develops greater understanding of the history and experiences of diverse peoples and cultures within the U.S. Any course that focuses on the study of sign language also meets this requirement.
    • Global cultures (GC): One course that focuses on the exploration and understanding of cultures outside of the U.S. Any course that focuses on the study of an international language also meets this requirement.

    Courses that satisfy the Diversity Requirement must introduce and examine:

    • Basic concepts of intergroup and intercultural relations, such as racism, ethnocentrism, the impact of cultures on each other, perception, and the intersection of differing value systems.
    • The intersection of ethnicity, language, or culture with gender, sexuality, class, or other important social categories, such as religion.

    Students, after completing the diversity courses, will have knowledge of:

    • Relationships between different ethnic groups and cultures
    • Interactions, values, and perceptions of marginalized or underserved communities
    • The social construction of class, race, ethnicity, gender, or nationality
  • What it means to be a W course

    From Presidential EM 17-009

    Definition of Writing (W) Courses and Course Elements
    All university writing courses approved by the UWC will carry the suffix ‘W.’ W-courses are 3- unit courses in GE or the major that integrate writing and writing instruction into the subject matter of the course. In W-courses, students use writing in the English language to inquire into and respond to course topics, engage in rigorous study about a body of knowledge essential to various audiences, and communicate that knowledge clearly to those audiences. Faculty will provide the rhetorically appropriate and course-specific writing instruction necessary for students to demonstrate understanding and appropriate use of writing in that subject area.

    In W-courses, students will:

    • Write and read texts in order to question, investigate, and draw conclusions about ideas and issues on a selected subject
    • Practice key textual strategies such as finding, evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing, and interpreting appropriate primary and secondary sources and integrating their own ideas with those of others
    • Learn and apply discipline-specific genre conventions such as organization, evidentiary support, and citation styles
    • Revise written text, based on feedback they receive from their instructor and/or peers, to address specific audiences for specific purposes,
    • Write frequently in the forms or genres of writing appropriate to the discipline or subject area
    • Reduce errors in grammar, syntax, punctuation, and spelling

    W- courses offered in traditional, face-to-face format are capped at no more than 30 students. Equivalent, alternative classrooms, larger enrollments, or different delivery formats may be approved after careful consideration by the UWC.

    The University Writing Requirement
    Students will take four separate W-courses:

    1. A W-course in GE Area A2, Written Communication
    2. A lower- or upper-division W-course
    3. An upper-division W-course in or specified by the department of the student’s major
    4. The upper-division W-course serving as the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) course in a student’s major (see below)

    First-time freshmen will take all four courses; transfer students (having taken writing courses elsewhere) will take course 3 and 4. The prerequisite of the GWAR course is having met the minimum requirements of GE Area A2 (Written Communication) or its equivalent at another institution; other W-courses outside GE may have similar prerequisites as departments require.

    A passing grade in each of the four W-courses will certify completion of the university writing requirement. For the course in GE Area A2 (Written Communication) and the designated GWAR course in each major, students must earn a letter grade of C- or better; a C- in the GWAR course additionally certifies writing proficiency for graduation. Students who earn below a C- in either course are required to repeat them until they earn a C- or better.

    If students believe their writing already demonstrates proficiency in the outcomes listed above, they may “challenge” one of the first three W-courses. The WAC coordinator will publicize a process for challenging one course, through a portfolio of previous work or other means, and organize faculty readers to score the writing; nominal reading fees may be attached to the process. A successful challenge will satisfy one W-course requirement but does not grant credit. NOTE: students may also receive credit for GE Area A2, Written Communication, through Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Advanced Placement (AP), or International Baccalaureate scores; see the Catalog for details.

    W-courses will be reviewed and recertified through a process specified by the University Writing Committee.

    Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement
    The graduation writing assessment requirement (GWAR) is a California State University system requirement, per EO 665, which states, in part: "All students ... must demonstrate competence in writing skills at the upper division level as a requirement for the baccalaureate degree." Since 1999, CSU, Chico has met this requirement through the provision of upper division writing courses in each baccalaureate degree program. Each degree program is required to designate one or more GWAR courses to be taken by students in their junior or senior year. Satisfactory completion of this GWAR course fulfills the GWAR requirement.

  • Description of Upper Division Pathways

    Upper-Division Pathways
    All Upper-Division GE Courses must be in a Pathway.  CAB has determined that all existing Upper-Division GE courses can fit within one of the ten proposed Pathways (below) but has asked for Departments to indicate the most appropriate Pathway for each GE Course(s).  For an existing Upper-Division GE course to be in a Pathway, the theme of the Pathway should be included in the course - ideally in the title and/or description - but the Pathway theme does not need to be central to the course.  

    GE Minors
    All Upper-Divison GE Courses must be in a Pathway, but not all Upper-Division GE Courses will be included in a GE Minor (of the same name as the Upper-Division Pathway).  CAB will recommend to EPPC GE Minors populated with courses where the course title, description, rationale, and syllabus make it clear that the theme of the GE Minor is central, rather than peripheral or tangential, to the course (as indicated in forms submitted by Department Chairs).  In other words, it should be readily apparent why the course is indispensable for students pursuing the GE Minor.  Departments applying for GE Minor status for existing GE courses can propose new titles/descriptions to more clearly align with the proposed GE Minor. 

    Interdisciplinary GE Minors will include a minimum of one course from each Upper-Division GE Area (Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning; Arts and Humanities; and Social Sciences), and a minimum of three courses from different Lower-Division GE Areas or Subareas. Each GE Minor must ensure that students will fulfill their USD, GC, and at least one W requirement.

    Upper-Division Pathways and GE Minors

    Agriculture, Food, and the Environment

    • the relationship between human experience, food, and the environment; 
    • the impact of food policy, sustainability, and agricultural practices on communities;
    • the ecological, political, economic, and social aspects of food production and distribution; and/or
    • the cultural meaning of food and food production practices in diverse societies today and in the past.
    California: People, Place, and Cultures
    • social, cultural, economic, environmental, and political issues relating to California; 
    • a critical examination of California history via multiple perspectives, including but not limited to Indigenous perspectives and critiques of systems of oppression; and/or
    • respect and appreciation for the place in which we live, especially our local area, and the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria as the people of this land. 
    Equity, Ethics, and Policy 
    • how policies impact people differently; 
    • ethical dimensions of policy making, including concepts of justice and fairness
    • evolving understandings of what equity means in different contexts; and/or 
    • how policy can be used to build more equitable social systems.
    Gender and Sexuality
    • the significance of gender and sexuality in all areas of life;
    • social and scientific constructions of heteronormative and LGBTQIA+ gender and sexuality;
    • interrelationships among gender and sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, disability, religion, nationality, and other intersections of identity, power, and politics; and/or
    • injustice and oppression, hidden histories, feminism and other social justice movements related to sexuality and gender.
    Global Studies
    • historical and contemporary global and international issues, including migration, health, global economics, violence, poverty, peace and conflict, natural resources and the environment, and identity and nationalism; 
    • global and international institutions, arts, and cultures; 
    • encouraging learners to become global thinkers; and  
    • ideally, half of the courses in the Global Studies GE Minor will focus on the developing world, and half of the courses will focus on the developed world.   
    Health and Wellness
    • knowledge, skills, and dispositions to value and pursue wellness and healthy lifestyles;
    • multiple individual, sociocultural, and environmental factors influencing one’s health;
    • complex and multi-dimensional contexts of health and wellness; and/or
    • issues in health access and equity.
    Innovation, Design, and the Arts 
    • the materials, processes, and aesthetics that inspire and drive innovation; 
    • the process of designing, making, creating, and producing; 
    • the responses to historical or contemporary political, technological, economic, cultural, and artistic challenges; and/or
    • combining critical examination with creative expression within STEAM-based education.
    Race, Ethnicity, and Sovereignty 
    • power inequity, systemic oppression, and privilege in society and their associated impacts on racialized ethnic groups and Indigenous peoples in the US and beyond; 
    • intersectional approaches to topics such as racism, colonialism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and ableism as they directly impact marginalized communities of color; and/or
    • the relationships of privilege and oppression, workings of power and forms of resistance through social justice movements, Indigenous sovereignty efforts, and other forms of resistance. 
    Science, Technology, and Society 
    • the complex and difficult issues raised by the rapid increase in scientific knowledge and new technologies; 
    • the social, cultural, and historical contexts of scientific research and technological innovation; and/or
    • the impact of technological change on culture and what it means to be human.
    Sustainability and Climate Change 
    • climate change causes, effects, and solutions; 
    • sustainability practices at individual and collective levels; and/or
    • the imperative of maintaining the long term viability and stability of the natural world while embracing a systems approach to human efforts to balance environmental responsibility, social justice, economic feasibility, and cultural diversity as civically engaged citizens.