St. Bonaventure University

General Education Curriculum


St. Bonaventure University is a Catholic university dedicated to educational excellence in the Franciscan tradition. We enhance the lives of our students and help them prepare for their futures by providing experiences that build knowledge, skills, and character.

Gen Ed Curriculum Our university has its roots in the traditional liberal arts and sciences, and the general education curriculum values that tradition within the context of the Catholic and Franciscan intellectual heritage.  Its aim is to provide students with foundational knowledge for all majors that aligns with the university’s six student learning goals:

  1. Basic knowledge of the liberal arts and sciences, specialized knowledge in a particular area of study, and the ability to integrate knowledge from different academic disciplines.
  2. The ability to think constructively, critically, and creatively, including competencies in analytic inquiry, quantitative literacy, information literacy, evidential reasoning, and problem solving.
  3. Competence in multimodal communication with special emphasis on oral, written, and digital communication, including an understanding of key issues relating to their use.
  4. A disposition to understand societal issues, seek solutions, and become responsible citizens.
  5. An ability to engage with ultimate questions of a metaphysical, theological, and philosophical nature.
  6. A basic understanding of the Catholic tradition and an appreciation of the intellectual and moral virtues expressed in the Franciscan movement (e.g., humility, compassion, justice with peace, love of wisdom, and the inherent goodness of all creation).

Within the framework of these goals and the university’s mission, the general education curriculum offers students an educational experience that encourages them to examine critically their own cultural assumptions and to explore openly and fairly other perspectives and cultures. This deepening appreciation of their own heritage and sensitive openness to alternative frameworks should prepare students to take their place as thinking, moral individuals in a global community.


Requirements for the General Education Curriculum


The General Education Curriculum is a 37-hour program to help students appreciate a liberal arts education. Each required specific course and each distribution list has been developed based on a list of learning objectives and assessment procedures. (Transfer students receive credit for some of these courses. Please consult Transferring Credits to SBU.)

To see the descriptions for any of the courses listed below, please refer to the Online Undergraduate Catalog.

I. Required specific courses — 15 credits

  • BONA 101. Introduction to St. Bonaventure — 3 credits.
  • THFS 101. The Way of Francis and Clare (Honors students may take THFS 104) — 3 credits.
  • PHIL 104. Introduction to Ethics (Honors students may take PHIL 105) — 3 credits.
  • ENG 101. Writing I and ENG 102. Writing II (Honors students may take ENG 104) — 3 credits each. Please see Placement in ENG 101 & ENG 102.

II. One course from each distribution — 22 credits

  • Franciscan Studies/Theology (Click to see courses)
  • Historical Studies (Click to see courses)
  • Literature and the Visual and Performing Arts (Click to see courses)
  • Natural Science with a Lab (Click to see courses)
  • Philosophy (Click to see courses)
  • Quantitative Literacy (Click to see courses)
  • Social Sciences (Click to see courses)

III. One course from each designation

In order to complete their General Education students must take a course designated as

  • Intensive Writing (W) (Click to see courses)
  • Diversity (D) (Click to see courses)

These types of courses can be found anywhere in the curriculum of the University among the distribution lists above, in a major or minor, or any elective courses. Please see the catalog to find a list of courses that apply.

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