General Education Program Overview
Courses that fulfill the General Education Program requirements are specified, but in some cases an advanced course in the same discipline may be substituted for GEP requirements with the approval of Enrollment and Academic Services. Students should consult both with an advisor and with Enrollment and Academic Services before submitting any course.
Undergraduate students who have not completed requirements for the Associate of Arts degree and who desire to transfer to another Florida public university can have their transcripts indicate “General Education Requirements Met” upon written request, if they have completed UCF’s GEP requirements with a GPA of 2.0 or better. UCF will accept a similar statement on transcripts received from Florida public community colleges and universities in lieu of completion of the University’s General Education Program. Students enrolled in courses that use the “NC” grade must earn a grade of “C-” (1.75) or better.
The GEP program consists of 36 credit hours of study divided among the following foundations:
Communications Foundations (9 credit hours)
- Demonstrate the ability to analyze the situational characteristics of a communication act: audience, purpose, and source/author.
- Demonstrate the ability to understand communication and speaking skills.
- Demonstrate the ability to write and speak in a clear, logical, and appropriate manner.
- Demonstrate the ability to research academic topics and present the synthesis of that research 1) in speech with appropriate citations and 2) in texts with correct documentation.
- Demonstrate an awareness of the diversity in American society.
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Cultural and Historical Foundations (9 credit hours)
- Be able to gather, synthesize, and analyze information from appropriate resources and be able to critically evaluate information and sources for accuracy and credibility.
- Identify and deepen appreciation of common human themes and the richness of diverse cultures.
- Be able to analyze and discuss meaning of an artwork, performance, or text in diverse aesthetic, historical and cultural contexts.
- Demonstrate knowledge and critical thinking of the concepts, styles, and aesthetic, theoretical, and critical principals in art.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the chronology and significance of major events and movements in western civilization, U.S. history or world civilization.
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Mathematics Foundations (6 hours)
- Demonstrate the skills needed to solve quantitative problems including choosing the proper technique and/or technology.
- Be able to solve real-world quantitative problems.
- Demonstrate qualitative understanding of mathematical, statistical, and computing concepts.
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential computing concepts common to academic degrees and their related professions.
- Demonstrate essential computing skills common to academic degrees and their related professions. In particular, skills relating to professional use of computers and application software.
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Science Foundations (6 hours)
- Demonstrate an understanding of science as an empirical attempt to acquire information about the real world, develop possible explanations of these phenomena, and test the explanations by predicting the outcome of future observations.
- Demonstrate an ability to assess the extent to which claims presented as "scientific" satisfy the empirical character of scientific explanations.
- Demonstrate understanding of scientific knowledge and problem solving in a physical or life science.
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Social Foundations (6 hours)
- Be able to gather and synthesize information from appropriate resources, and be able to evaluate information and sources for accuracy and credibility.
- Understand how an individual’s place in the world is affected by social, economic, and political institutions.
- Gain a deeper appreciation of one’s role and potential impact in social, economic, and political institutions.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the interaction among social, economic, and political structures and functions.
- Understand how individuals behave and interact with other individuals in their psychological, political, economic and social environments.
