General Education Core Requirements

Arts & Humanities - Critical & Creative Thinking

Arts & Humanities - Oral Communication

Biological & Physical Sciences - Scientific Reasoning

Biological & Physical Sciences - Scientific Reasoning w/ Lab

English Composition - Written Communication

Information Literacy

Mathematics - Quantitative Reasoning

Social & Behavioral Sciences - Critical & Creative Thinking

Social & Behavioral Sciences - Global Competency

Technological Literacy

Each program specifies general education courses needed to complete the general education core requirement for associate-level degrees. Most of the courses listed below fulfill core curriculum requirements at state colleges and universities. A few courses may not transfer as core requirements to every college or university. Check the requirements of your transfer institution before selecting specific courses, or see your advisor for assistance.

Howard Community College has the responsibility to ensure that all degree recipients have achieved a broad educational experience. To achieve this breadth of learning, the college has established fundamental general educational goals. HCC students will:

• Write clearly and effectively for a variety of audiences, purposes, and contexts in order to learn, think, and communicate.

• Use critical and creative reasoning to demonstrate deep thinking.

• Effectively use oral and/or signed communication as a way of sharing ideas with others.

• Demonstrate an awareness of the wider world and one's relationship to it.

• Possess the ability to reason and solve quantitative problems; understand, make judgments, and/or draw appropriate conclusions supported by quantitative evidence and clearly represent those in a variety of formats.

• Apply scientific concepts and reasoning to solve real-world and computational problems by utilizing, interpreting, and evaluating data and information.

• Apply strategies of inquiry and exploration in order to find, evaluate, and use information ethically.

• Solve problems and complete tasks using technology tools such as the internet, productivity and/or discipline-specific software, and emerging technologies in order to communicate ideas and information. 

To ensure these general education goals are met by each student, HCC requires all students to take courses in writing, arts, humanities, mathematics, science, and social sciences. These topics are woven into the General Education Core courses. Students completing the associate of arts degree at HCC must complete a minimum of 31 credits from the general education core as designated in the specific curriculum and delineated below. Also, see Student Transfer Policies. Students completing the associate of applied science degree will complete a minimum of 18 credits in general education as specified in the individual curriculum.