SUNY General Education Requirement (GER)
If you entered SUNY in fall 2010 or later, to earn a SUNY bachelor’s degree, you must earn 30 credits in at least 7 of the following 10 SUNY -GER subject areas, and demonstrate 2 competencies.
Knowledge and Skills Areas:
American History (AH)
Arts (AR)
Basic Communication (BC) (required)
Foreign Language (FL)
Humanities (H)
Mathematics (M) (required)
Natural Science (NS)
Other World Civilization (OW)
Social Science (SS)
Western Civilization (WC)
Competencies:
Critical Thinking (required)
Information Management (required)
Note: If you entered SUNY between fall 1998 and fall 2009, you may need to complete a course in each of the ten areas and if you entered SUNY before fall 1998, the SUNY-GER may not apply
The above Knowledge and Skills areas will be fulfilled by completing approved general education courses. The above two competencies will be embedded throughout the curriculum. Please go to http://www.niagaracc.suny.edu/academics/general_education/SUNY_SLOs.php to view the student learning outcomes in each of the above twelve areas.
Transfer: Students interested in transferring to a SUNY school can find out more about the SUNY General Education requirements at the following link: https://www.suny.edu/student/academic_general_education.cfm.
Once a student has completed a SUNY General Education requirement at NCCC, that requirement will be accepted as completed at any SUNY college. Students must understand that the transfer college may have additional graduation minimum degree requirements that are also labeled as General Education. Please refer to the college catalog of the transfer college. Students, who have transferred to NCCC from another college or university, should submit their transcript(s) to the College for evaluation. Part of that evaluation will include an analysis of courses for the General Education requirement.
Specific Courses Required: General Education requirements vary by campus and by major. However, if you satisfy a SUNY-GER area at one SUNY campus with a grade of C or higher, you will have met that SUNY-GER area at every other SUNY campus. Campuses may make some exemptions to General Education requirements because of AP, IB, CLEP, DANTES, or ACTFL exams, or prior college credits.
NCCC Approved General Education Courses
A grid of approved NCCC courses that meet the SUNY GE requirements follows this section or can be viewed at http://www.niagaracc.suny.edu/pdf/ge_courses.pdf.
Waiver Criteria: Some requirements may be waived or modified based upon high school work and standardized tests. Waiver information is located after the grid of approved General Education courses in this catalog or can be viewed at the following link: http://catalog.niagaracc.suny.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=1&poid=69#core_820.
Courses That Count In More Than One Area: Several courses can count in two areas. For example, ART 137 meets both the Arts and the Western Civilization requirements. If a student takes a course that meets two requirements, he or she must still complete 30 credits of SUNY GER.
Exception to Courses That Count in More Than One Area - Humanities: An exception to this is the Humanities requirement. Any course used to satisfy the Humanities requirement may not be used to satisfy another category. For example, if MUS 117 is used to satisfy Humanities then it cannot fulfill the Arts requirement. The approved course grid on the College website lists these details.
Differences between SUNY GER and NCCC Curriculum Requirements: Some courses fulfill SUNY GER requirements but do not fulfill NCCC curriculum requirements in the same category. For example, ANT 230 fulfills the Natural Science requirement for SUNY GER but does not fulfill the science requirement of many programs. Some anthropology, art, music, and theater courses fulfill the Western Civilization requirement for SUNY GER but only courses with the prefix HIS fulfill the history requirement of many programs. Students needing clarification should consult with their advisors.
