General Education
Every University of Maine academic program is based upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences. The University’s goal is to ensure that all of its graduates, regardless of the academic major they pursued, are broadly educated persons who can appreciate the achievements of civilization, understand the tensions within it, and contribute to resolving them. This component of every program is called general education, and it amounts to about one third of every program. The design of general education at the University of Maine is meant to be flexible within the broad goals it seeks to achieve. It affords each student many ways of meeting its requirements, which fall under the six broad categories outlined below.
Students who have completed the UMS General Education Transfer Block at any other UMS institution currently accredited by NECHE will be regarded as having completed all of their General Education requirements except for the following, which must be taken at the University of Maine:
- A minimum of three additional course credits in any of the UMaine Human Values and Social Context subcategory areas
- A Writing Intensive course in the Major Degree
- A Capstone Experience course
- Any specific General Education courses required by the major
A student (completing more than one academic major or baccalaureate degree) need complete only one set of UMaine General Education Requirements. For example, a student completing a double major need complete the “writing intensive course in the major” and the capstone experience only for the designated primary major. Exception: some departments may specifically require their writing intensive and capstone courses as part of the major, aside from their role in general education. In this case the double-major student must complete them, not because of general education policy, but because the major program requires them.
Students who have previously earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution do not have to meet General Education requirements to earn a degree from UMaine except specific courses required by the major (i.e. writing in the major and capstone). A student must meet the requirements of the major (assuming sufficient credits are accepted by transfer to total 120 credits or more, depending on the major) with at least 30 credits courses from UMaine.
Note: The student elected Pass/Fail option is not allowed for courses used to fulfill program requirements for the major, for the minor, for the college, or for general education.