Completing General Education Requirements

General Education (GenEd) Requirements form the core curriculum for a baccalaureate degree at Old Dominion University.

The GenEd requirements are designed to provide a student with a solid background of knowledge in preparation for further studies in a major, minor, or focus area.

Transfer students are required to fulfill the General Education Requirements unless they are covered by an Articulation Agreement or have an approved Associate's Degree.

Complete Fulfillment of General Education Requirements

Transfer Students are considered to have already fulfilled the General Education Requirements if they have an approved:

Associate's Degree (AA, AS, or AA &S)

The Associate's Degree must have been awarded from a Virginia Community College.

There are some exceptions to this policy:

Students receiving the Associate's Degree in General Studies before April 1993 will need to fulfill the lower level General Education requirements.

Northern Virginia Community College degree holders must have Math 151 or higher.

Blue Ridge Community College degree holders must have Math 151 or higher and 8 hours of science with a lab.

No credit with a grade of C- or below transfers under any circumstances, nor may it be used as a basis for waiver of any University requirement.

Note: An Associate's Degree in Applied Sciences (AAS) does not fulfill the General Education requirements. However, it may partially fulfill the requirements. See the partial fulfillment section below for more information.

Articulation Agreements
These are specific agreements between Old Dominion University and organizations such as Tidewater Community College, and Thomas Nelson College. The agreements are revised regularly, and the Old Dominion University Office of Admissions maintains a listing of current agreements.

Partial Fulfillment of General Education Requirements

Associate's Degree in Applied Sciences (AAS)

A student with this degree is eligible for admission at the junior level, and credits earned with grades of C or higher will transfer to the corresponding Old Dominion University program. However, the student must still fulfill any uncompleted General Education requirements, including the Foreign Language requirement.

Correspondence & Extension Course Credits

These sources of credit may be accepted provided that the courses were administered by an appropriately accredited university or college. However, Old Dominion University policies regarding transfer of credits also apply to these types of credits.

The General Education Requirements

If you have not completely fulfilled the General Education requirements, you should make every effort to complete them as soon as possible.

Although there isn't a specified time frame for fulfilling your GenEd requirements, many of the requirements are prerequisites for courses within a major, minor, or focus area.
The requirements are divided into two categories:Skills & Perspectives.
Within each category, students are provided with course options that address a specific skill or perspective to be achieved.