General Education Requirements for Undergraduate Students
General education at Lesley is organized according to outcomes designed to define what it means to be an educated person in our fast-changing, globally-connected, world. These outcomes encompass faculty’s shared vision of what students will gain through their coursework. As students progress through the program, they develop skills and perspectives to shape a more just, humane, and sustainable world. The general education program at Lesley is divided into three components: (1) Foundations, (2) Breadth & Perspectives, and (3) Applications.
1. The Foundations outcomes are intended to strengthen students’ bedrock academic skills. For many learners, these outcomes are associated with required first-year courses. In their first-year seminar courses, students build Collaboration skills to investigate contemporary issues. Through literature, writing, and math courses, students improve their skills in Analysis, Communication, and Quantitative Reasoning.
2. In the Breadth & Perspectives component of the program, students take courses aligned with five Perspectives outcomes while also working to satisfy their Breadth of Inquiry requirement. In this way, students gain experience in the outcomes, while also learning different ways of asking questions and gaining knowledge that are fundamental to each liberal arts discipline. Every course within this part of the general education program builds upon one or more Foundations outcomes to ensure students continue to develop these fundamental skills.
3. A student’s general education experience culminates with the completion of an Applications course. These trans-disciplinary project-based courses require students to apply knowledge and skills from the general education program to a contemporary social problem of critical importance. In addition, students are asked to reflect upon their experience in general education at Lesley and its applicability to their personal and career goals.
General Education Requirements for Students in Education, Liberal Arts & Business, and Mental Health & Well-Being
General Education Requirements for Students in Art and Design
General Education Information for Transfer Students
Students with a Bachelor's Degree: Students, who have already earned a bachelor's degree, and are enrolling in an additional bachelor's degree program will be waived from all the General Education foundation requirements, including Collaborations and Applications.
Students with an Associate Degree: Students eligible for The Massachusetts Independent College Transfer Guarantee (have an associate of arts or sciences from a Massachusetts community college that is eligible for MassTransfer) or have an AA or AS from any accredited community college, will have met most of the General Education curriculum requirements. All students must take a General Education Applications course and, based on a student’s program and transfer credits, up to 3 additional general education credits. Certain programs in the College of Art & Design have additional Art History requirements.
Transfer students without an associate degree will have equivalent transfer courses applied to the General Education curriculum.
General Education Equivalencies: If a transfer course is equivalent to a Lesley course that meets a General Education Foundation or Perspectives outcome, the transfer course will also be deemed to meet the Lesley General Education outcome. Students wishing to have elective transfer courses (courses without an exact Lesley equivalency) reviewed to meet these general education requirements will complete a request to:
Dr. Sonia Pérez-Villanueva.
Associate Provost of Liberal Arts and Business
Professor of Spanish Studies and Literature in Translation
sperezvi@lesley.edu
Meeting the Applications Course Requirement: All bachelor degree-seeking students (with associate degrees or not) must take a General Education Applications course as part of their Lesley general education program. This requirement may not be waived and no non-Applications course may be substituted for this requirement.