Kent Core (General Education Requirement)

The Kent Core is the foundation of the university's mission to prepare students to live in today's complex, global society. It broadens intellectual perspectives, fosters ethical and humanitarian values and prepares students for responsible citizenship and productive careers. Through this learning experience, students develop the intellectual flexibility they need to adapt to an ever-changing world.

Kent Core courses enable students to:

• Acquire critical-thinking and problem-solving skills
• Apply principles of effective written and oral communication
• Broaden their imagination and develop their creativity
• Cultivate their natural curiosity and begin a lifelong pursuit of knowledge
• Develop competencies and values vital to responsible uses of information and technology
• Engage in independent thinking, develop their own voice and vision and become informed, responsible citizens
• Improve their understanding of issues and behaviors concerning inclusion, community and tolerance
• Increase their awareness of ethical implications of their own and others' actions
• Integrate their major studies into the broader context of a liberal education
• Strengthen quantitative reasoning skills
• Understand basic concepts of the academic disciplines

Although not every Kent Core course will address all these goals, learning within the Kent Core as a whole enables students to acquire the tools for living rich and meaningful lives in a diverse society.

Requirements

• As part of the requirements for any bachelor's degree and the Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees, all students must complete a minimum 36-37 credit hours of the Kent Core distributed as indicated within the specific categories.
• As part of the requirements for any applied and technical associate degrees (A.A.B., A.A.S., A.T.S.), all students must complete a minimum 15 credit hours of the Kent Core distributed as indicated within the specific categories.
• Colleges or degree programs may augment the university's minimum Kent Core, and they may specify for their students certain courses in fulfillment of the requirements. It is essential, therefore, that students consult that section of the catalog for their college and degree program.
• The Kent Core should normally be completed within the 60 credit hours that immediately follow the first date of enrollment in a bachelor's degree program.
• Honors equivalents shall satisfy the Kent Core.
• None of the courses on the Kent Core list may be taken pass/fail.

Transfer Credit, Proficiency Testing and Other Options in Meeting the Kent Core

1. Certain alternatives to formal Kent State coursework may be recognized in the fulfilling of the Kent Core.
2. Credits earned for specified courses within the Kent Core course list through external credit-conferring testing programs, such as the College Board Advanced Placement and College Level Examination Program (CLEP), will be applied toward the fulfillment of the Kent Core as appropriate for the specific courses for which credit is received.
3. Courses transferred from accredited post-secondary institutions will be applied toward fulfillment of the Kent Core as appropriate for the specific courses for which credit is awarded.
4. The university's Credit-By-Examination (CBE) program may be utilized in fulfillment of the Kent Core within the conditions, guidelines and policies established for that program and for the course (s) for which credit is sought.
5. Proficiency, as established by placement examinations or other recognized procedures and mechanisms for this purpose, can be used to fulfill Categories I (Composition) and II (Mathematics and Critical Reasoning) of the Kent Core. For example, students who are placed into ENG 21011 and complete it with a passing grade will have met the Category I. It is assumed that students who are placed at and pass the higher level of one of these sequenced courses have also mastered the content of the prerequisite course. While students may meet the requirements of Categories I and II through proficiency, minimum credit hours must be met in Categories III, IV, V and VI. Students meeting Categories I and II requirements through proficiency must substitute other courses, which shall be elective, to earn the minimum credit hours required for the bachelor's or associate degree.

To fulfill the purposes of general education, any of the above alternatives to the fulfillment of the Kent Core by formal coursework at Kent State University must be exercised by the students within the first 60 credit hours of academic credits earned at and/or transferred to Kent State University.

Students who transfer to the university with more than 45 credit hours of applicable credits (including students with associate's degrees in technology from the Kent State University Regional Campuses or those who transfer to bachelor's-level programs from associate-level technology programs) must exercise such option(s) within the first calendar year of their Kent State University enrollment.

Post-undergraduate students who have earned a baccalaureate from a regionally accredited institution will be deemed to have completed the equivalent of the university’s Kent Core requirement. By virtue of having earned a bachelor’s degree, these students will be recognized as having completed their general education requirements. If they pursue an academic program at Kent State University that requires specific courses that are also in the Kent Core but are unmet, they can be held to those requirements because the courses are considered program requirements first and foremost.

Kent State students who update their official catalog from a year prior to 2010 to the current catalog year will be given special consideration in determining completion of the Kent Core. If students have met all of the general education requirements (or Liberal Education Requirement) in their prior catalog, their Kent Core will be considered complete. Students must contact their advisor to determine eligibility.

Kent Core for the Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.) and Bachelor's degrees

Kent Core for A.A.B, A.A.S and A.T.S. degrees