Case Western Reserve University adopted a common set of general education requirements for all undergraduate degree programs effective for students who matriculate at the university during the 2023-2024 academic year or later. Students who entered the university in Spring 2023 or earlier will continue to follow the degree requirements in place at the time of matriculation and published in the General Bulletin of that academic year, but they may choose to update their requirements to those included in a later General Bulletin. See General Bulletin Archives.
As part of the Unified General Education Requirements, all undergraduate degree candidates must complete breadth requirements across three broad areas of inquiry:
- Arts & Humanities (A+H)
- Social Sciences & Management (SS+M)
- Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Nursing (STEM+N)
These requirements aim to prepare the student to:
- Recognize the contributions of different disciplinary approaches to understanding the human condition and the value of these approaches as different ways of characterizing and understanding contemporary, historical, and natural phenomena, events, and problems.
- Place their disciplinary work in a larger social context and share their ideas with individuals who bring different expertise and perspectives to a given problem.
- Engage with confidence in learning new material to address emerging issues in their professional and civic life.
A minimum of 18 credit hours of coursework must be completed with passing letter grades from the two areas outside the area of the major. The coursework must include at least 6 credit hours from each of the other two areas, with the remaining 6 credit hours to be satisfied in either of the two areas.
Up to 9 credit hours of the breadth requirements may be satisfied with credit earned from AP, IB, or similar test scores recognized by the university or with transfer credit, but a minimum of 3 credit hours in each breadth area must be taken outside that of the major at CWRU.
Matriculated transfer students may additionally fulfill breadth requirements beyond this limit with transfer credit awarded for courses taken at their previous colleges or universities prior to matriculation at CWRU, provided the courses are approved upon review at CWRU.
Courses taken to satisfy breadth requirements may also be used to meet other requirements (Skills, Perspectives) for which they are approved.
A cross-listed course can be used to satisfy any breadth area for which it qualifies.
| Major | This Major falls in the following Breadth area: | Students completing this Major must satisfy Breadth Requirements in these two areas: |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Aerospace Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Ancient Near Eastern & Egyptian Studies | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Anthropology | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Applied Mathematics | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Art Education | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Art History | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Asian Studies | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Astronomy | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Biochemistry | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Biology | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Biomedical Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Business Information Technology | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Business Management | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Chemical Biology | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Chemical Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Chemistry | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Chinese | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Civil Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Classics | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Cognitive Science | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Communication Sciences | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Computer Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Computer Science | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Dance | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Data Science and Analytics | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Dean’s Approved Major (Arts and Sciences) | Determined when major is approved | Determined when major is approved |
| Dean's Approved Major (Management) | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Economics | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Electrical Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Engineering Physics | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| English | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Environmental Geology | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Finance | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| French | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| French and Francophone Studies | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| General Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Geological Sciences | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| German | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| History | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Humanities | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| History and Philosophy of Science | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| International Studies | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Japanese Studies | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Marketing | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Materials Science and Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Mathematics | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Mathematics and Physics | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Mechanical Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Music | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Music Education | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Neuroscience | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Nursing | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Nutrition | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Origins Sciences | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Philosophy | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Physics | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Political Science | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Polymer Science and Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Psychology | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Religious Studies | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Sociology | SS+M | A+H and STEM+N |
| Spanish | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Statistics | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Systems and Control Engineering | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Systems Biology | STEM+N | A+H and SS+M |
| Theater | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| Women’s and Gender Studies | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
| World Literature | A+H | SS+M and STEM+N |
Courses offered by the following units will count as Arts & Humanities
- Art History and Art (ARTH, ARTS)
- Bioethics (BETH) undergraduate courses
- Classics (AKKD, ANEE, CLSC, GREK, HIER, LATN)
- Dance (DANC)
- English (ENGL)
- History (HSTY)
- Humanities (HUMN)
- Modern Languages and Literatures (ARAB, CHIN, FRCH, GRMN, HBRW, ITAL, JAPN, KORE, LING, PORT, RUSN, SPAN)
- Music (MUED**, MUGN, MUHI, MUTH)
- Philosophy (PHIL)
- Religious Studies (RLGN)
- Theater (THTR)
- SAGES University Seminars designated as USSY
**Note: MUED 320 will NOT count toward this Breadth area.
The following courses will also count as Arts & Humanities:
- BIOL 233
- EDUC 301
- WLIT 380
Courses offered by the following units will count as Social Sciences & Management
- Anthropology (ANTH)
- Cognitive Science (COGS)
- Political Science (POSC)
- Psychological Sciences (PSCL, COSI)
- Sociology (SOCI)
- All courses offered by the Weatherhead School of Management (ACCT, BAFI, BLAW, DESN, ECON**, ENTP, MGMT, MIDS, MKMR, OPMT, OPRE, ORBH, PLCY, VEAL)
- SAGES University Seminars designated as USSO
**Note: ECON 216 will NOT count toward this Breadth area.
The following courses will also count as Social Science & Management:
- EDUC 304
- NTRN 310
- NTRN 340
- NTRN 350
- NTRN 351
- PHIL 222
- PHIL 392
- SJUS 100
Courses offered by the following units will count as STEM & Nursing
- Astronomy (ASTR)
- Biochemistry (BIOC)
- Biology (BIOL)
- Chemistry (CHEM)
- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences (EEPS)
- Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics (MATH, STAT)
- Neuroscience (NEUR)
- Nutrition (NTRN) except NTRN 340, 350 and 351
- Physics (PHYS)
- All courses offered by Case School of Engineering (CSDS, DSCI, EBME, ECHE, ECIV, ECSE, EMAC, EMAE, EMSE, ENGR)
- All courses offered by the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing (NURS)
- SAGES University Seminars designated as USNA
The following courses will also count as STEM & Nursing:
- BAFI 351
- ECON 216
- ECON 326
- ECON 329
- ECON 380
- MUED 320
- OPRE 207
- OPRE 301
- DESN 350 (**Note: This is a one-time offering in spring 2025 only.)