General Education

ECU’s motto is Servire – To Serve. The university prepares graduates by engaging the broad range of human knowledge and developing the skills that promote self-discovery and informed, responsible citizenship.

The fundamental purpose of requiring students to take general education courses is to help them broaden their scope of knowledge and develop an understanding of aspects of the human condition that are not the primary focus of their major field of study.

All students are required to complete 40 hours of general education courses, regardless of major. Your major may determine what some of these courses are.

General Education Requirements

  • English Composition: 6 hours – Engl 1100 & 2201
  • Health & Physical Education: 3 hours – Hlth 1000 or Rctx 2200, & Kine 1000, 1025, or 1001
  • Mathematics: 3 hours
  • Natural Science: 7 hours, must include 1 laboratory course
  • Social Science: 9 hours, must have classes in two disciplines
  • Fine Arts & Humanities: 9 hours, must include one fine art and one humanity
  • General Education Elective: 3 hours. Any course from the humanities, fine arts, mathematics, natural sciences, or social sciences that carries general education credit

Students must also satisfy domestic diversity (DD) and global diversity (GD) competencies. Select courses in the humanities, fine arts, and social sciences will satisfy these requirements. The global diversity requirement can also be satisfied through a 14-day (or longer) study abroad program.

A complete list of courses satisfying general education requirements can be found in the undergraduate catalog under General Education Program.

Here is a comprehensive guide of all current General Education Courses (pdf). Not all courses are offered every semester so you will need to check availability in Pirateport using “Planning & Registration” and “Browse Class Sections” to confirm course offerings for a particular semester.

Some departments create course flyers to advertise new and/or unique classes. You can find them here: Course Flyers.