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Liberal Education and Graduation Requirements

MISSION:  The Liberal Education Program (LEP) at St. Cloud State University is committed to the ideal of liberal education that provides knowledge, skills, and experiences and promotes critical thinking and ethical values for a lifetime of integrative learning in a diverse and changing society.

The Liberal Education Curriculum is organized into ten goals. To complete the curriculum, students must achieve the ten goals through courses or experiences and earn at least 40 credits in liberal education courses.  Some goals may be satisfied by experiences other than courses (e.g., approved internship, study abroad, completion of major, or sequence of courses).   Some courses may achieve two goals, and experiences may not be credit bearing, so students may complete the goals with fewer than 40 credits.  Those students must complete additional liberal education courses to earn the required 40 credits.  Liberal Education courses may be double counted as courses required for a major or minor. Courses used in the major may be designated as Liberal Education.

Each student must complete three courses designated as Diversity courses and one course which satisfies the Racial Issues Graduation Requirement (RIGR).  Students may take no more than one Diversity course from any one department. In many cases, the course that satisfies RIGR also counts as a Diversity course.