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General Education

Colgate College

Colgate University (Hamilton, NY)

www.colgate.edu

Defining Statements:

Colgate's mission is to provide a demanding, expansive educational experience to a select group of diverse, talented, intellectually sophisticated students who are capable of challenging themselves, their peers, and their teachers in a setting that brings together living and learning. The purpose of the university is to develop wise, thoughtful, critical thinkers and perceptive leaders by encouraging young men and women to fulfill their potential through residence in a community that values all forms of intellectual rigor and respects the complexity of human understanding.

Colgate sees its marks of distinction as its core curriculum, its international and off-campus study (24 faculty-led off-campus study groups with 68% participating in study away), and student research.  It measures its success to some degree by the number of students who go to graduate school: 17% within a year of graduation and 66% ultimately.

Organizational Principles:

The Core asks students to both confront the question of "Who am I?" and cultivate habits of mind that form the lifelong legacy of a liberal arts education. Students learn to think in an integrative manner that crosses boundaries, to see disparate ideas in context, and to communicate effectively as they examine basic questions on the nature of their individual and cultural identities.


All Colgate students take four Core classes in three areas:

A Western Culture

 Western Traditions

 The Challenge of Modernity

Africa, Asia, or the Americas

Science and Technology

Students may earn distinction by completing projects in courses on ethical issues and contemporary society, such as Modern Genocide and Holocaust, The Global Village Reconsidered, or Comparative Health Systems.


Requirements for Graduation:

Distribution Requirements
Humanities
Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Social Sciences
Total distribution requirements  
Number of Courses

2
2
2

6
Liberal Arts Core
Scientific Perspectives on the World
Continuity and Change in the West
Cultures of Africa, Asia, and the Americas
Distinction (optional)
High Distinction
Total Core

1
2
1
1
1

4-6
Additional Requirements
First-Year Seminar
Language Requirement
Elementary Language Requirement
Total Additional Requirements

0
0-3
2

2-5
Total Distribution and Core Requirements
Courses required for graduation
General Education percent
 12-17
32

38%-53%

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