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BSU Catalog Home | Areas of Study
The mission of Bemidji State University's Liberal Education curriculum is to create an environment where students of diverse backgrounds and abilities can acquire the knowledge, the skills, the values, and the confidence necessary for effective and responsible participation in our changing global society.
LIBERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTSGoal Area 1: Communication (2 courses, 6 credits)
Goal Area 2: Critical Thinking (requires completion of the rest of the Liberal Education program)
Goal Area 3: Natural Science (2 courses, including 1 with a lab component [LC], 7 or more credits)
Goal Area 4: Mathematics (1 course, 3 or more credits)
Goal Area 5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2 courses, 6 or more credits)
Goal Area 6: Humanities and the Arts (2 courses, 5 or more credits)
Goal Area 7: Human Diversity in the United States (1 course, 2 or more credits)
Goal Area 8: Global Perspective (1 course, 3 or more credits)
Goal Area 9: Ethical and Civic Responsibility (1 course, 2 or more credits)
Goal Area 10: People and the Environment (1 course, 3 credits)
Goal Area 11: Performance and Participation (1 course, 1 or more credits)Required Credits: 42
If the required courses are completed in less than 42 credits, additional Liberal Education credits must be taken, from any goal area, to bring the total to 42. For students planning to use the completed program to satisfy the general education requirements of another state institution, as provided by the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum, 40 credits must be in Goal Areas 1 through 10.
Goal Area 11 is a Bemidji State University graduation requirement. Students who have completed the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum prior to transfer to Bemidji State University and students who already hold an AA or baccalaureate degree are exempted from the Goal Area 11 requirement.
Graduation planning forms for Liberal Education are available online at www.bemidjistate.edu/offices/records_registration/. Make a selection from the “Graduation Planning Forms and Information” drop-down menu.
MINNESOTA TRANSFER CURRICULUM (MnTC)Goal Areas 1 through 10 comprise the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum. A minimum 2.00 GPA is required in MnTC coursework. Grades A, B, C, and D, are accepted in transfer. MnTC is designed to expedite the transfer of courses within the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system (MnSCU), and to or from the University of Minnesota. If a MnTC goal area is completed at one school, it is deemed to be completed at another MnSCU school. If a student plans to transfer to the University of Minnesota without having completed the entire MnTC, a course-by-course evaluation will be done according to the University's liberal education requirements. Individual courses may be accepted in transfer. Students who complete the MnTC and then transfer to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities have fulfilled the University's first-year writing requirement, as well as the liberal education requirements.
POLICIESBemidji State University offers a curriculum (60 credits minimum) that leads to a two-year Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree in Liberal Education. The 60 credits include all Liberal Education requirements plus electives. With proper advising, this program may be used as the basis for continuing on in a four-year bachelor's degree program. For transfer students, 20 credits and a minimum of one semester must be completed at Bemidji State University.
THE HONORS PROGRAMThe Honors Program is an alternative Liberal Education program that emphasizes an interdisciplinary academic curriculum different from the Liberal Education program and a student’s major. See "Honors" in Section VII for information.
DIMENSIONS OF STUDENT LEARNING AT BEMIDJI STATELiberal Education and other programs use the Dimensions of Student Learning for self-assessment.
For Goal Areas 3 through 11, departments may propose, subject to approval, study-travel courses (domestic or abroad) using the All-University course numbers specified under “Others” at the end of each goal area’s course listing.