General Education Requirements
This is a condensed version of the General Education requirements. Students should refer to the Undergraduate Catalog for full explanation of their individual requirements.
Students responsible for General Education requirements:
- All entering freshmen in all majors.
- Students who entered UB as freshmen between fall 1992 and thereafter whose majors are listed in the College of Arts and Sciences (B.A. and B.S. degrees).
- Freshmen and transfer students who entered UB in the fall 1997 and thereafter whose majors are in the School of Pharmacy or the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
Writing Skills
Students are required to take ENG101 or 102 and ENG201 or equivalent unless exempted by your SAT score.
Library Skills
All freshmen and transfer students are required to complete the Library Skills Workbook whether or not they are required to take ENG201. This requirement is administered by the Silverman Undergraduate Library and must be completed before graduation.
World Civilization
Students are required to take UGC111 and then UGC112.
Mathematical Sciences
Students must choose two courses from the list found in the Undergraduate Catalog.
Natural Sciences
Students must choose two courses from the list found in the Undergraduate Catalog. At least one semester of lab is required.
Language Requirement
Students must demonstrate intermediate proficiency in a language other than English prior to graduation (equivalent to completion of a second-year, first-semester course, e.g., FR151 or SP151).
Students continuing to study their high school language will ordinarily take two semesters of additional language study, and students beginning study of a new language will ordinarily take three semesters. Please refer to the Undergraduate Catalog for full details.
American Pluralism or Cognate (Approved Equivalent Course)
Students are required to take UGC211 or equivalent. NOTE: World Civilization is ordinarily completed before American Pluralism.
Literature and the Arts
Students must choose one 3 credit course offered from AAS, AMS, ART, AHI, CL, COL, ENG, FT, GER, ITA, DMS, MUS, SPA, TH, THD, WS or PHI101. The following do NOT fulfill the Literature and Arts requirement:
- ENG101 and ENG201 are excluded.
- Courses that satisfy the World Civilization and American Pluralism requirements are excluded.
- Elementary and intermediate language courses used to satisfy the language requirement are excluded.
- Courses offered by the department of your major are excluded.
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Students must choose one 3 credit course from APY, CDS, COM, ECO, GEO, HIS, LIN, PHI, PSC, PSY, SSC or SOC. The following do NOT fulfill the Social and Behavioral requirement:
- Courses that satisfy the Mathematical Sciences requirement are excluded.
- Courses that satisfy the World Civilization and American Pluralism requirements are excluded.
- Courses offered by the department of your major are excluded.
Junior/Senior Science or Cognate (An Approved Equivalent Course)
Students must complete UGC302 or UGC303 “Great Discoveries in Science” or cognates.
- Students completing a course in the physical, biological, mathematical, medical sciences or in engineering numbered 200 or above are exempt from this requirement.
- Certain courses from the following departments also fill this requirement: APY, CDS, GEO and PSY. Please see the Undergraduate Catalog for complete details and specific courses.
Note: S/U grading is NOT an option in any course that is to be used toward satisfying the general education requirements.