General Education

General Education

All programs leading to an associate degree at Brookdale include the following competencies as appropriate to the specific degree in the general education portion of the curricula from the following major knowledge areas:

• Communications (C)

•  Humanities (H)

• Social Sciences (SS)

• Mathematics (M)

• Sciences (SC) 

• Technological Competency (IT)

• History (H)

• Cultural and Global Awareness (CG)

Associate in Arts (AA) and Associate in Science (AS)  degree students are required to complete coursework that addresses the General Education goals of Ethical Reasoning and Action (E) and Information Literacy (IL) in addition to completing courses from the above identified knowledge areas.  (E) and (IL) goals are integrated in a limited number of General Education courses.  AA and AS students must complete at least one General Education course that contains the (E) integrated goal, and at least one course that contains the (IL) integrated goal.  AAS students are required to complete course(s) that integrate (E) and (IL) competencies and may fulfill this requirement through General Education or other program requirements.

Students should choose their general education courses based upon the degree sought and their transfer plans. Student Development Specialists (Counselors) work with students to design a plan of study.

General Education courses are identified in the course description section of the catalog and are listed below.

General education requirements for each degree program are summarized in the General Education Knowledge Areas tables:  

(1) Students must take 3 credits in Humanities and 3 credits in Social Sciences, plus an additional 3 credits in either category for a total of 9 credits.
(2) A laboratory science course is required for A.A. and A.S. degree students.
(3) Students must complete a minimum of 12 credits for the AA degree and 9 credits for the AS degree to fulfill the requirements for the Mathematics (M), Sciences (SC) and Technological Competency (IT) knowledge areas.
(4) Technological Competency can be satisfied by program requirements other than General Education. Students may take an assessment to demonstrate their technological competency and increase the number of credits completed in mathematics and science. Students should consult a Counselor.
(5) Students planning to transfer to Rutgers must complete a specific course in the CG category.  The CG course CAN NOT be used to fulfill any other GE requirement, including Humanities, History, Social Sciences or any additional GE credits required in your degree.  In order for the course to be recognized by Rutgers, it must be completed prior to graduation with the AA degree.  No other NJ public institutions have this requirement.
(6) The number of required General Education credits are the minimum; the actual number of credits completed may exceed the minimum.

A description of the General Education courses that meet the requirements of each General Education category are described in the Programs of Study section.