General education

General education is a curriculum that gives students a broad foundation beyond their main field of study, often through courses across multiple disciplines.

Liberal arts education: An educational approach emphasizing broad study across the humanities, sciences, and arts. General education often draws on the liberal arts ideal of learning across disciplines.
Liberal education: Education aimed at intellectual development and broad understanding rather than preparation for one occupation. General education is a modern curricular expression of this older educational ideal.
Core curriculum: A required set of courses or subjects shared by students in an educational program. A core curriculum is one structured alternative to choosing among broad distribution requirements.
Specialization: The concentration of study or expertise in a narrow subject or field. A specialized major provides depth where general education aims for breadth.
Interdisciplinary learning: Learning that integrates concepts, methods, or evidence from multiple academic disciplines. Many general education curricula connect perspectives that specialized majors keep separate.
Classical education: An educational tradition centered on ancient Greek and Roman texts, languages, and intellectual practices. Classical curricula helped establish the precedent for study beyond practical or vocational training.
Distribution requirement: A degree rule requiring students to complete courses in specified subject areas. This is a common way colleges organize general education across disciplines.
Vocational education: Education designed primarily to prepare students for specific occupations or trades. Its direct occupational focus differs from general education's broader intellectual aims.
Critical thinking: The disciplined evaluation of claims, evidence, assumptions, and reasoning. Courses outside a major often use critical thinking as a transferable learning goal.
John Henry Newman: A nineteenth-century English theologian and educator who argued for the value of university education. His defense of liberal knowledge influenced debates about broad university curricula.

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