General Education Requirements

At Dunlap-Stone University (DSU), general education is a vital and intentional part of every undergraduate degree. It reflects our commitment to honor, distinction, and excellence by cultivating the intellectual, ethical, and practical capacities required of educated individuals in a diverse and dynamic world. Students should review each degree program’s requirements for specific course or category requirements.

Rooted in DSU’s mission to deliver Professionally Significant Degrees® through high-quality distance education for adult learners, the general education curriculum fosters the development of students who are not only professionally prepared but also curious, analytical, and ethically grounded thinkers. General education provides the broad academic foundation necessary to support lifelong learning, civic engagement, and informed decision-making in personal, professional, and societal contexts.

DSU defines an educated person as someone who:

• Communicates effectively and ethically across diverse contexts;
• Thinks critically and creatively, with strong reasoning, problem-solving, and information literacy skills;
• Understands and applies scientific, mathematical, and social methods of inquiry;
• Appreciates the aesthetic, ethical, and historical dimensions of human experience;
• Demonstrates adaptability, integrity, and reflective self-awareness as a learner and leader.

To achieve these outcomes, DSU’s general education program requires all students to engage with a balanced and coherent curriculum across the following domains:

• Arts and Humanities – fostering communication, ethical reasoning, and cultural literacy;
• Sciences and Mathematics – developing quantitative reasoning and empirical inquiry;
• Social Sciences – exploring human behavior, social systems, and global perspectives.

General education at DSU is integrated across the undergraduate curriculum. It lays the foundation for upper-division learning and capstone experiences and equips students with the transferable skills they need to succeed in graduate study, professional advancement, and community leadership. Courses are developed with shared learning outcomes and are assessed using common rubrics and signature assignments to ensure both academic rigor and coherence.

Whether students are pursuing careers in compliance, international trade, healthcare, public safety, or business, DSU’s general education program prepares them to lead with intelligence, empathy, and purpose in the world they inhabit and shape.

Within undergraduate programs, student learning outcomes include:

• U-A Communication: Competency in written and oral communication includes the ability to communicate effectively, the ability to use a variety of modern information resources and supporting technologies, and the ability to suit content and style to the purpose of communication. (1,2,3,4)
• U-B Scientific and Quantitative Reasoning: Competency in scientific and quantitative reasoning includes the ability to locate, identify, collect, organize, analyze and interpret data, and the ability to use mathematics and the scientific method of inquiry to make decisions, where appropriate. (1,2,3,4)
• U-C Critical Thinking: Competency in critical analysis and reasoning includes the ability to arrive at reasoned and supportable conclusions using sound research techniques, including inference, analysis and interpretation. (4)
• U-D Technological Competency: Technological competency includes the ability to use computer technology and appropriate software applications to produce documentation and presentations appropriate to various academic and professional settings. (3)
• U-E Information Literacy: Information Literacy includes the ability to identify, locate, evaluate and effectively use information from various sources. (1,2)
• U-F Global and Cultural Perspectives: Appreciation of global and cultural perspectives includes comparing, contrasting, examining, and integrating diverse viewpoints and maintaining an environment of inclusiveness. This includes study of social and behavioral sciences and the humanities among other subjects. (3, 4, 5)