General Education Core

General Education Philosophy

Consistent with the University mission, the general education core provides the foundation to develop the breadth of knowledge, intellectual skills, and collaborative and civically-minded perspective that all NLU graduates will demonstrate. A coherent general education core is fundamental to further, more specialized study and serves as a catalyst for lifelong learning and professional success. The core enables students to acquire critical inquiry skills and to recognize the interrelationships of areas of study.

Integrated Competencies

The following learning outcomes, based on the Degree Qualifications Profile, are integrated throughout the student’s academic experience in the university and as a part of their General education coursework:

Specialized Knowledge

Students identify core practices and terminology related to general education studies. Students investigate trends, analyze facts and form interpretations to generate cohesive arguments.  Students utilize technology to deliver written and oral communications.

Broad, Integrative Knowledge

Students consolidate learning from the five fields of study and to discover and explore concepts and questions that bridge these essential areas of learning.

Intellectual Skills

Students develop both traditional and nontraditional cognitive skills: analytic inquiry, use of information resources, engagement with diverse perspectives, ethical reasoning, quantitative fluency and communicative fluency, emphasizing the importance of making, confronting and interpreting ideas and arguments from different points of reference (e.g., cultural, technological, political).

Applied and Collaborative

Students demonstrate their learning by addressing unscripted problems in scholarly inquiry, at work and in other settings outside the classroom, including research and creative activities involving both individual and group effort and may include practical skills crucial to the application of expertise.

Civic and Global Learning

Students demonstrate integration of their knowledge and skills by engaging with and responding to civic, social, environmental and economic challenges at local, national and global levels.

Professional Practice

Students cultivate skills necessary for a career readiness, including: decision making, change management, negotiation, organization and prioritization, leadership, teamwork, and emotional intelligence.

The above competencies will be documented by students and assessed by the University on the basis of the knowledge, skills and abilities acquired prior to admission to NLU, during coursework at NLU and as part of field experiences.

NLU requires all students to have a minimum of 12 courses in general education for a total of 48 to 60 quarter hours; each course requires a minimum of 4 quarter hours. The specific requirements within each field are detailed in the chart below.

First-time freshmen will fulfill all general education fields of knowledge by completing the full Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core Curriculum (IAI GECC) package as recommended by IAI, GECC guidelines. Upon completion, students will receive a designation on their transcript that they have completed the IAI GECC course requirements. 

Transfer students who fulfilled all general education fields of knowledge and required disciplines by completing 12 general education courses meet the University general education core requirement. 
 
Transfer students who have previously completed a Bachelor’s degree, Associate’s of Arts or Science at an accredited 2 or 4-year institution, or the IAI general education core at another Illinois college or university are not required to take required core general education courses. 

Certain general education courses are specifically required by different programs and will need to be completed in addition to the general education core. Department or program alerts should be consulted for specific requirements regarding: 

• Specific courses required for degree completion 
• Minimum grades accepted for credit
• Additional NLU requirements that must be met 

Fields of Knowledge

3 courses- One course must be an academic writing course, and one course must be an oral communications course.                                                                                     

Students will acquire and exchange information accurately from a variety of sources. Using appropriate methodologies, they will develop the ability to speak, read, write and listen with understanding and critical discernment.

Appropriate coursework or experiences: Oral and written communications

2 courses                                                                

Students will examine the human condition through the study of a variety of fields and disciplines, including language, literature, history, philosophy, religion and ethics. They will also be exposed to, experience, participate in and create artistic expression in a variety of forms and contexts.

Appropriate coursework or experiences: History (U.S. and Western; intellectual history), literature, philosophy, religion, foreign language, linguistics, art, music, theatre 

3 courses, one must be a math and one must be a natural science

Students will identify quantitative concepts and perform basic operations at the college level. They will recognize the possible multiple interpretations of data and will be able to respond critically and appropriately to concepts arguments and conclusions based on numbers and statistics in both abstract and concrete contexts.

Appropriate coursework or experiences: Mathematics/statistics, research methods

2 courses

Students will analyze the organization of social institutions and the emergence and structure of society through the application of appropriate concepts, as well as theoretical and methodological frameworks. Additionally, they will identify concepts and theories that seek to explain human behavior, mental processes and development throughout the life span, and the application of behavioral science principles in a variety of settings. 

Appropriate coursework or experiences: Anthropology, economics, geography, cultural and ethnic history,  political science, sociology, psychology and related behavioral science areas.