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To be the Midwest’s premier student-centered university integrating liberal arts with career development to prepare students for life-long learning and leadership in a global society.
LIBERAL EDUCATION MISSION STATEMENTThe 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 REQUIREMENTSCategory 1: Communication (2 courses, 6 credits)
Category 2: Critical Thinking (requires completion of the rest of the Liberal Education program)
Category 3: Natural Science (2 courses, including 1 with lab, 7 or more credits)
Category 4: Mathematics (1 course, 3 or more credits)
Category 5: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2 courses, 6 or more credits)
Category 6: Humanities and the Arts (2 courses, 5 or more credits)
Category 7: Human Diversity in the United States (1 course, 2 or more credits)
Category 8: Global Perspective (1 course, 3 or more credits)
Category 9: Ethical and Civic Responsibility (1 course, 2 or more credits)
Category 10: People and the Environment (1 course, 3 credits)
Category 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 category, 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, forty credits must be in Categories 1 through 10.
Category 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 Category 11 requirement.
Graduation planning forms for Liberal Education are available online at www.bemidjistate.edu/students/records. Make a selection from the “Graduation Planning Forms and Information” drop-down menu.
MINNESOTA TRANSFER CURRICULUM (MnTC)Categories 1 through 10 comprise the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum. 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 category 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.
POLICIES
Bemidji State University offers a curriculum (64 credits minimum) that leads to a two-year Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree in Liberal Education. The 64 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, 22 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 Categories 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 category’s course listing.