General Education Core Curriculum

You’ll learn to communicate clearly and effectively, design and implement a solution to an open-ended question, comprehensively explore issues and ideas before formulating a conclusion, and learn to integrate diverse perspectives in your communications. These skills will benefit you in any career path.

You’ll gain the expertise to apply learning to new complex situations in your first job and beyond or at one of the many acclaimed graduate schools our alumni attend.

You’ll develop skills that support effective and appropriate interaction in various cultural contexts, preparing you to be an active, civically engaged global citizen.

No matter what path you choose in your academic career, you’ll need oral communication skills. Designated courses will enable you to improve those skills in various contexts, including individual and group presentations or professional communications in clinical and internship settings.

What does it mean to be a global citizen and engage civically? Through courses designed to enhance and expand civic engagement skills, you’ll learn to question and critically analyze community and/or global issues using diverse perspectives and relevant sources. Gain advantageous skills of active citizenship.

Every LVC student will participate in at least two high-impact Immersive Experiences before graduation. These immersive experiences allow you to apply your classroom learning to practical and professional situations, bolstering your résumé and career readiness. You can be a team captain, study abroad, help produce a Wig & Buckle Theater Company play or an album for our student-run VALE record label, complete an internship, or serve a critical campus leadership role such as Resident Assistant, all while meeting a requirement for graduation.

• FYE 111 – 3 credits
• FYE 112 – 3 credits
• FYE Companion (111C, 112C, or 113) – 1 credit
  *Course will be waived for transfer students enrolling with 84 credits or more.

• Natural Science Analysis (NS) – 3 credits
• Social Scientific Inquiry (SS) – 3 credits
• Humanistic Perspectives (HU) – 3 credits
• Additional Disciplinary Competency from above options – 3 credits
• Additional Disciplinary Competency from above options – 3 credits

*No more than 2 courses from one area.

*Courses may also fulfill Literacy requirements. 

• Quantitative Reasoning (QR) – 3 credits
• Critical Thinking Through Writing (CTW) – 3 credits
• Oral Communication (OC) – 3 credits
• Human Diversity (HD) & Language and Culture (LAC) – 9 credits:
  • 1 course/3 credits LAC
  • 1 course/3 credits HD
  • 1 course/3 credits LAC or HD
• Civic Engagement (CE) – 3 credits

*Courses may also fulfill Disciplinary Competencies requirements, but no course can fulfill more than one Literacy requirement.

*Transfer students who enroll with 28 or more completed credits may substitute an HD course in place of the required LAC course. 

Satisfied through coursework taken in the major.

• 2 approved immersive courses/experiences – 0–12 credits

*May be courses that also fulfill one Competency/Literacy requirement.

Experiences can be taken in any year. In cases where an experience continues and requires registration over multiple terms, only one instance of the experience may be counted toward the immersive experience requirement.

Non-credit Immersive Experiences are given a grade of Satisfactory (S) or No Grade (NG); experiences given a grade of NG cannot satisfy an Immersive Experience requirement. Credit-bearing Immersive Experiences are graded on a conventional or pass/fail basis (see grading section of the catalog); students must pass the course to fulfill an Immersive Experience requirement.

Credits may satisfy multiple components if learning objectives for each component are met. Students who double-dip will need to ensure that they complete at least 40 total unique credits in general education coursework.