About General Education

General Education is your opportunity to explore! Offering over 200 courses in its inventory, General Education consists of 11 courses taken in a broad range of areas and offered across the different colleges at Temple. You will engage with courses on writing, the humanities, math, science & technology, race & diversity, the arts, human behavior, U.S. society, and global society.

GenEd is the signature curriculum for all Temple students.  Every Temple undergraduate student's education includes completion of the GenEd curriculum, with over 200 courses to choose from.  Other avenues for fulfilling some areas in the GenEd curriculum include transferring in Advanced Placement credits, course credit from prior institutions, and study abroad.

While majors and minors provide students a depth of knowledge in a specific field, the General Education curriculum provides students with the breadth of knowledge to make the major(s) and minor(s) work for them in a dynamic, constantly evolving world. The skills and goals built into GenEd classes describe habits of mind that are important not only in an academic context but are also sought after by employers and central to civic participation. The GenEd curriculum complements the major and guarantees that every Temple student, regardless of major, has space to explore. Whether that takes the form of delving into old interests, sampling unfamiliar topics, or pursuing new passions, the GenEd curriculum offers something for everyone.

In fact, a recent survey of business executives and hiring managers conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities found that the best preparation for long-term career success includes a broad base of skills and abilities that cuts across disciplinary boundaries. The Temple General Education Program and Area goals prioritize and target the college outcomes most prized by employers: communication skills, critical thinking skills, the ability to apply abstract theories and ideas to concrete experiences and practices, and ethical judgment.

Both the State of Pennsylvania and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education recognize the importance of General Education and even require it to be part of the curriculum. As the Middle States Commission says, General Education:

• offers a sufficient scope to draw students into new areas of intellectual experience, expanding their cultural and global awareness and cultural sensitivity, and preparing them to make well-reasoned judgments outside as well as within their academic field; and
• offers a curriculum designed so that students acquire and demonstrate essential skills including at least oral and written communication, scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and reasoning, technological competency, and information literacy.
• Consistent with mission, the general education program also includes the study of values, ethics, and diverse perspectives.