General Education Curriculum
General Requirements
The basic and divisional course requirements leave students in the College considerable flexibility in planning their courses of study. Students who entered under the bulletins of previous years may make use of new alternative basic and divisional courses announced in this bulletin while still following their original contract for the required totals thereof. Except for HES 100, only courses of 3 or more semester hours count towards satisfying basic and divisional requirements.
All students must complete (1) the core requirements (unless accepted for the Open Curriculum), (2) a course of study approved by the department or departments of the major, and (3) elective courses, for a total of 120 hours. In general, no more than 12 hours toward graduation may be earned from among all of the following courses: MSC 140-147, MSC 150-151, MSC 175A-175H, MSC 183-185 (repeatable music courses); DCE 128; and elective 100-level courses in health and exercise science. However, majors in music in liberal arts and music performance may count up to 16 hours in these courses toward graduation. A cross-listed course may be taken one time for hours toward graduation, unless otherwise specified by the course description, and no more than six hours in LIB courses may count.
For complete Degree Requirements, please consult the Undergraduate Bulletin.
Important Links
Core Requirements (Basic and Divisional)
The core requirements are intended to introduce the student to various fields of knowledge and to lay the foundation for concentration in a major subject and related fields during the junior and senior years. For these reasons, as many of the requirements as feasible should be taken in the first two years.
Basic Requirements
All students must complete four required basic courses (unless exempted through procedures established by the departments concerned):
- FYS 100 (first-year seminar) – to be taken during first year
- Writing 111 (writing seminar) – to be taken during first year
- One 200-level foreign language course
- Health and Exercise Science 100
Divisional Requirements
All students must complete courses in each of the five divisions of the undergraduate curriculum (unless exempted through procedures established by the departments concerned or by participation in the Open Curriculum). Together with the basic requirements, these courses form the core of Wake Forest’s undergraduate liberal arts education.
Students are not allowed to exempt divisional core requirements through the Advanced Placement Examination, the College Level Examination Program or the International Baccalaureate Program, although students who complete AP courses earn credit towards the 120 hours needed for graduation. Departments choose which courses will satisfy divisional requirements. Courses satisfying a divisional requirement are designated (D) after their descriptions in this bulletin. Courses without the (D) designation do not satisfy a divisional requirement.
Additional Requirements
Wake Forest endeavors to prepare students who will be engaged civic actors in a world that needs their perspectives, knowledge, and discernment to create and sustain global social, political, economic, and environmental relationships that are just. The four components of the Twenty-First Century Stewardship (21CS) requirements introduce diverse disciplines, methodologies, and habits of mind to help students build strong foundations for the kinds of informed, analytical, and ethical decisions the world demands of them.
Students may count 21CS courses towards a basic requirement, divisional requirement, or a requirement for a major or minor.
Students are not allowed to exempt 21CS requirements through the Advanced Placement Examination, the College Level Examination Program or the International Baccalaureate Program
The Committee on the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum approves courses to satisfy the 21CS requirements. Since some multi-section courses are approved for 21CS by section, students should review the specific section tags in the course schedule each semester to confirm that individual sections satisfy the needed requirement.