All undergraduates at Case Western Reserve must complete the SAGES Program and the physical education requirement, in addition to school-specific general education requirements based on the school of his or her major.
Students pursuing a degree in the College of Arts and Sciences may not fulfill the Departmental Seminar requirement with a course that is being used to fulfill and Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, or Natural & Mathematical Sciences breadth requirement. A course that has been designated as a Departmental Seminar and that also falls into the Global and Cultural Diversity category may be used to fulfill both requirements.
Course credit earned by Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, A-levels and similar programs offered by high schools, by proficiency exams and by courses taken at domestic and international universities may be applied to elective credit as determined by the academic departments of the College, and may be used to satisfy some general education requirements as described under each heading below.
Breadth Requirements
(minimum of six three- or four-credit-hour courses totaling 18 credit-hours)
One-half or more of the breadth requirement courses in each breadth area must be taken on campus except that students transferring from another college or university with 45 hours or more of transferable credit may fulfill their breadth requirements with transfer credit taken at their previous institution. Credit earned for Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, A-levels and similar programs offered in high schools, or by proficiency exams may be used to satisfy up to one-half of this requirement if the credit is equivalent to specific courses taught at CWRU. AP, IB, and A-level credit equivalents ending in “TR” may not be used to satisfy the breadth requirements. Pre-matriculation and post matriculation transfer credit for work done at other institutions—for example, at colleges or universities prior to matriculating at CWRU, during the summer or in an approved Study Abroad program—may be applied to satisfy part of this requirement if approved by the appropriate department.
NOTE: Two courses used to fulfill requirements for the major also may be used to fulfill the breadth requirements.
Arts and Humanities (six to eight credit-hours)
Two three- or four-credit-hour courses selected from:
- Akkadian (AKKD)
- Ancient Near East and Egyptian Studies (ANEE)
- Arabic (ARAB)
- Art History (ARTH)
- Art Studio (ARTS)
- Chinese (CHIN)
- Classics (CLSC)
- Dance (DANC)
- English (ENGL)
- French (FRCH)
- German (GRMN)
- Greek (GREK)
- Hebrew (HBRW)
- History (HSTY)
- Italian (ITAL)
- Japanese (JAPN)
- Latin (LATN)
- Linguistics (LING)
- Music – General (MUGN)
- Music – History (MUHI)
- Music – Theory (MUTH)
- Philosophy (PHIL)
- Portuguese (PORT)
- Religious Studies (RLGN)
- Russian (RUSN)
- Spanish (SPAN)
- Theater (THTR)
- World Literature (WLIT)
Natural and Mathematical Sciences (six to eight credit-hours)
Two three- or four-credit-hour courses selected from:
- Astronomy (ASTR)
- Biochemistry (BIOC)
- Biology (BIOL)
- Chemistry (CHEM)
- Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences (EEPS)
- Mathematics (MATH)
- Nutrition (NTRN)
- Physics (PHYS)
- Statistics (STAT)
Social Sciences (six credit-hours)
Two three-credit-hour courses selected from:
- Anthropology (ANTH)
- Cognitive Science (COGS)
- Communication Sciences (COSI)
- Economics (ECON)
- Political Science (POSC)
- Psychology (PSCL)
- Sociology (SOCI)
Quantitative Reasoning (three to four credit-hours)
Each student must complete at least one three- or four-credit-hour course identified as a quantitative reasoning course selected from the list included in the General Bulletin. The course used to meet this requirement may also be used to fulfill a major, minor, and/or breadth requirement.
Course credit earned by Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, A-levels and similar programs offered by high schools, by proficiency exams, by courses taken at domestic colleges and universities or in an approved Study Abroad program may be used to satisfy the quantitative reasoning requirement if the credit is equivalent to the specific CWRU courses that satisfy the requirement.
Global and Cultural Diversity (three to four credit-hours)
Each student must complete at least one three- or four-credit-hour course selected from the list included in the General Bulletin. The goal of the Global and Cultural Diversity requirement is to provide students with the opportunity for academic reflection about the variation in human experience. Courses that satisfy this requirement 1) substantively explore one or more cultures outside the United States, or 2) address in a substantive way ethnic, gender, sexual, religious, or other cultural practices within or outside the United States, so as to provide students with fresh perspectives on their own cultural assumptions, traditions, and experiences. The course used to meet this requirement may also be used to fulfill a major, minor, and/or breadth requirement.
Course credit earned by Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, A-levels and similar programs offered at high schools may not be used to satisfy the Global and Cultural Diversity Requirement. Transfer credits for college-level course work done at other institutions—for example, prior to matriculation, during the summer, or in an approved Study Abroad program—may be applied to this requirement if approved by the appropriate department.