General Education
John Jay College’s General Education Program aims to ensure that every undergraduate acquires fundamental knowledge and skills that are needed for success in college and after graduation. Students should generally complete general education requirements early in their studies as the curriculum is designed to prepare students for more advanced study in majors and minors and helps bolster their academic success.
The General Education program is divided into three components (see the diagram below). The Required Core ensures that students learn essential skills in writing, quantitative reasoning, and science. The Flexible Core provides a broad foundation of knowledge in the liberal arts and sciences, introducing a variety of different disciplines and ways of knowing. The College Option specifies unique institutional learning goals for each student that are shaped by the College’s mission. At its center is the Justice Core, which provides students with the opportunity to learn and communicate about justice in their lives and in the lives of people across different historical time periods and places.
As students acquire specific competencies in these areas, they will also develop skills in research, critical reasoning, and oral and written communication across the General Education curriculum and in their major.
Note: Students who enrolled at John Jay College before fall 2013 may continue with the general education program that was in effect when they began at the College or may opt in to the current program. Students readmitted to the college in fall 2013 or later are required to follow the current program.