General Education 28
On April 9, 2025, the Academic Senate approved a revision to the General Education curriculum. The updated curriculum includes changes to the overall structure, learning outcomes, and category definitions. These revisions will go into effect fall 2028. A draft timeline and implementation process is now available for review.
Structure:
Students must take a total of 33 credit hours in the designated course categories.
| Category (3 credit hours each) | Learning Outcomes |
| Information Fluency Through Writing | 2.3; 2.4; 2.6 |
| Communication Inquiry | 2.1; 2.3; 3.3; 3.4 |
| Applied Writing Inquiry | 2.1; 2.3; 2.6 |
| Quantitative Literacy | 1.3; 2.2 |
| Scientific Literacy | 1.3; 2.2; 2.7 |
| Exploring the Human Condition | 1.2; 3.2; 3.4 |
| Creative Arts | 1.1; 3.2; 3.4 |
| Individuals and Society | 1.1; 1.3; 2.2 |
|
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics |
1.3; 2.2; 2.7 |
| Experiential Learning and Civic Engagement |
2 of these: 2.5; 2.6 2.7; 3.1; 3.2; 3.3; 3.4; 3.5 |
| General Education Elective |
Vision:
Illinois State University’s General Education Curriculum prepares students who can thrive in a complex, interconnected, and global world because they are:
- Informed by knowledge of the natural, sociocultural, technical, and creative worlds and able to critically analyze this knowledge.
- Engaged with cross-disciplinary skills and the research/scholarly tools to exercise intellectual curiosity; and
- Responsible for acting with an understanding of personal agency, civic and democratic values, and social justice as they learn how to apply their knowledge and skills to make positive contributions in their communities, democracies, and the world.
Goals and Learning Outcomes:
The goals of the General Education Curriculum are to ensure all students graduating from Illinois State University are informed, engaged, and responsible learners capable of employing multiple systems and tools to creatively address local, state, national, and global challenges. To achieve this, there are 15 core learning outcomes.
Informed learner: A deeper understanding of the world, both as human beings and as contributing individuals, is essential. This understanding must accompany an awareness of the intersections and permeability of disciplinary boundaries associated with knowledge. Through the General Education Curriculum, students will have opportunities to learn how to:
1.1 Examine the human condition (imagination, expression, and/or cultures).
1.2 Compare and contrast interrelations within and among global or cross-cultural communities.
1.3 Distinguish means of modeling the natural, social, technical, logical, and/or creative worlds.
Engaged learner: The cross-disciplinary skills students need are extensive, sophisticated, and expanding with the increase of new technologies. These skills extend beyond core concepts to include the ways of investigating and interacting with human society and the natural world. As students progress through the General Education Curriculum and into their major/degree programs, students will learn to:
2.1 Communicate in diverse settings and groups (orally, visually, and in writing).
2.2 Analyze problems using systematically acquired data.
2.3 Integrate information discerningly from a variety of sources.
2.4 Manage change through intellectual and digital agility.
2.5 Collaborate in diverse teams.
2.6 Transform knowledge into judgment and action.
2.7 Derive meaning from experience and information gathered through observation.
Responsible learner: The integrity of a democratic society depends on individuals’ sense of social responsibility, ethical judgment, and concern for others. These attributes contribute to the exploration of important issues in ways that respect a variety of viewpoints and lead to a deeper understanding of the world. The General Education Curriculum will foster the development of these qualities among students. Specifically, students will learn how to:
3.1 Demonstrate responsibility for contributing to a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.
3.2 Demonstrate respect for the complex identities of others, their histories, and their cultures.
3.3 Enact values and practices reflecting democratic processes.
3.4 Engage respectfully with multiple perspectives.
3.5 Justify a position based on ethics, consequence(s) of decision, and/or personal values.