Mar 19, 2024  
2014-2015 VSCC Catalog 
    
2014-2015 VSCC Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

General Education Requirements


Courses Designated to Fulfill General Education Requirements

The general education core curriculum is designed to assist the student in attaining the knowledge and outcomes represented by the General Education Goals of the College. The program of study listed below leads to the Associate of Science Degree. Students who desire to earn the Associate of Arts Degree must complete two semesters of the same college level foreign language. Foreign language taken at the high school level will not count toward the language requirement for the Associate of Arts.  The ♦ symbol denotes courses that fulfill general education requirements for university parallel degrees.

* Students wishing to graduate with an Associate of Arts Degree must have two semesters of the same college-level foreign language.

 General Education Core Curriculum

Effective Fall Semester 2004, each institution in the State University and Community College System of Tennessee (the Tennessee Board of Regents System) will share a common lower-division general education core curriculum of forty-one (41) semester hours for baccalaureate degrees and the Associate of Arts and the Associate of Science degrees. Lower-division means freshman and sophomore courses. The courses comprising the general education curriculum are contained within the following subject categories:

Associate of Arts* and Associate of Science Degrees

Communication 9 hours**
Humanities and/or Fine Arts 9 hours (At least one course must be in literature.)
Social/Behavioral Sciences 6 hours
History 6 hours ***
Natural Sciences 8 hours
Mathematics 3 hours
TOTAL 41 hours

*Foreign language courses are an additional requirement for the Associate of Arts (A.A.).  The A.A. degree requires proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to completion of one year of college-level work.

**Six hours of English Composition and three hours in English oral presentational communication are required.

***Students who plan to transfer to Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) universities should take six hours of United States History (three hours of Tennessee History may substitute). Students who plan to transfer to University of Tennessee System universities or to out-of-state or private universities should check requirements and take the appropriate courses.

Although the courses designated by TBR institutions to fulfill the requirements of the general education subject categories vary, transfer of the courses is assured through the following means:

  • Upon completion of an A.A. or A.S. degree, the requirements of the lower-division general education core will be complete and accepted by a TBR university in the transfer process.
  • If an A.A. or A.S. is not obtained, transfer of general education courses will be based upon fulfillment of complete subject categories. (Example: If all eight hours in the category of Natural Sciences are complete, then this “block” of the general education core is complete.) When a subject category is incomplete, course-by-course evaluation will be conducted. The provision of block fulfillment pertains also to students who transfer among TBR universities.
  • Institutional/departmental requirements of the grade of “C” will be honored. Even if credit is granted for a course, any specific requirements for the grade of “C” by the receiving institution will be enforced.
  • In certain majors, specific courses must be taken also in general education. It is important that students and advisors be aware of any major requirements that must be fulfilled under lower-division general education.

Courses designated to fulfill general education requirements by Volunteer State Community College are following. Although the courses fulfilling the common lower-division general education core curriculum may vary in actual design among institutions, many contain similar content. The actual courses designated by each institution to fulfill the common lower-division general core, including courses that may not be a part of the common course prefix and numbering patterns, are denoted in the catalogs by the ♦ symbol. A complete listing of the courses fulfilling general education requirements for all system institutions is available on the TBR website (www.tbr.edu) under Transfer and Articulation Information.

 Communications Credits: 9 Credits


Humanities and/or Fine Arts Credits: 9 Credits


At least one course must be in Literature

             *(except for Art and Elementary Education)

History Credits: 6 Credits


Choose 2 of the following courses:

Or both of the following:

Mathematics Credits: 3 Credits


If a 4-hour math course is used to satisfy this requirement, the extra credit hour will count as elective credit toward graduation. Students should consult their advisor and the catalog of the institution to which they wish to transfer to determine the level of general education mathematics required.

Additional mathematics courses that fulfill minimum degree requirements may be found in the Courses section.

Credit toward graduation cannot be received for both courses in any of the following pairs:

 Natural Sciences Credits: 8 Credits


A sequence specified in the curriculum guide or from the catalog of the institution to which the student wishes to transfer.

   OR two non-sequential survey courses

Credit toward graduation cannot be received for both courses in any of the following pairs:

 Social/Behavioral Sciences Credits: 6 Credits


  Choose 2 of the following: