Selecting courses for the first semester of college is very important in setting the stage for a successful college career. Whether or not an entering freshman is "undecided" or is committed to pursuing a particular program of study, certain general education requirements of the University must be met. While first year general education requirements are fairly structured, they do permit individuality by student through the assistance of their faculty advisor.

The General Education Requirements are summarized below and are also listed in the Undergraduate Bulletin. A "PLACEMENT & ADVISING INSTRUCTIONS"  sheet of placement and testing results and information is provided to the student and is also available to the advisor via MyStuff to use in individualizing a schedule.

Summary of General Education Requirements - Freshmen:

1. ENGLISH*: determined by placement; ENG102 [ENG100 and/or ENG101 may also be required]

2. MATHEMATICS*: determined by placement test; choices: MTH131, MTH141, MTH142; MTH153 & 154 (for education majors only), or MTH241 [MTH105 may also be required]

3. FOREIGN LANGUAGE*: determined by placement or placement test; choices: French, German, or Spanish with course numbers of 101, 201, 213. (course numbers 102 & 202 offered in spring semester only except for Spanish where both SPN102 and SPN202 are offered both fall and spring semesters).

4. PRESIDENT'S SEMINAR: EXP101 is required of all entering freshman students and must be taken during the fall semester. EXP102 will be required in the spring semester. 

 5. FRESHMAN SUCCESS PROGRAM*: determined by first semester academic performance; any student earning less than a 2.00 GPA on at least 12 credits will be required to take ADV101 - if required, the student must register for ADV101-Foundations for Academic Success in the spring semester.

Freshmen should select additional credit hours from the following to reach a total of 12-17 credit hours. 12 hours minimum required for full-time status; 17 credit hours maximum credit load.

6. FINE ARTS: [one course required] choices: ART120, MUS120, THE120 
 
7. RELIGION: [one course required] choices: REL101, REL102, REL108, REL109, REL203, REL204, REL221
 
8. HISTORY: [one course required] choices: HST101 or HST102

9. PHYSICAL EDUCATION: [PEC105-Foundations of Wellness and one PEC activity required]  PEC105;  plus choices of PEC activities: PEC104; PEC107 - PEC187

10. LAB SCIENCE: [one lab science course required - some majors will require more] choices for meeting the basic laboratory science requirement are: AST121, BIO110, BIO111, or CHM121; students majoring in biology (pre-med), athletic training, exercise science, and PE certification must take BIO206;  chemistry majors must take CHM101;  education majors - depends on your specific program, discuss with an education advisor.

11. ADDITIONAL ONE-HOUR COURSE CHOICES: students may also choose to take one or more of the following one-hour courses: IDS151** - Cultural Foundations; REL119** - Christian Worship; MUS 101, MUS105, MUS117; MUS118; Theatre 109
[**may take a maximum of two different times for credit]

12. HONORS COURSES: Presidential Fellows & Scholars [plus others invited into the Honors Program] are recommended to take at least 1 Honors course. Honors courses are not required and remain the student's option to take any Honors course.

Some important points to remember:

• 12 hours is considered full-time. Freshmen enrolled in both ENG100 or ENG101 and MTH105 their first semester should probably limit their total hours to 15. The maximum any student can take is 17 without extra charge. Over 17 hours requires permission of the Dean plus an extra charge for each credit hour over. Freshmen should rarely exceed 17 credit hours.
• Students should try to avoid taking 3 back-to-back courses at 11:00-12:00-1:00 on MWF - this takes up their lunch hour. It is generally a good idea, anyway, not to have three courses back-to-back anytime. Two courses back-to-back are usually okay.
• Students should try to avoid scheduling all of their courses on M-W-F or TUES-THURS. It may sound good, but doesn't work well for most students. Spread them out. If possible, the best is half on M-W-F and the other half on T-TH.
• The 101/201 levels of a foreign language are offered during fall semester only; the 102/202 levels of a foreign language are offered in the spring semester except SPN102 is offered both fall and spring; 6 credits required of same language or 3 credits if starting above 202 level.
• Generally, ONLY courses in the 100-level are eligible for freshmen to take their first semester. Any other courses at the 200-level need approval.
• Students may DROP/ADD and change courses through the first week of classes.