General Education at Binghamton
Students follow the General Education program in effect for the year they matriculate at Binghamton University. For example, students matriculating in Summer 2023, Fall 2023, or Spring 2024 would follow the General Education requirements as stated in the 2023-2024 Bulletin. Generally, a student's catalog year is the same as the academic year in which he or she matriculates at Binghamton University. If you are not sure which requirements apply to you, please contact your school advising office for assistance.
Note: Some General Education courses may have more than one General Education listed. However, except for Composition, Oral Communication, Joint Composition/Oral Communication, Critical Thinking and Reasoning, Information Literacy or World Language classes, General Education courses may be used to fulfill only one General Education requirement. For example, a course may be designated as Composition, Social Sciences, and Diversity: Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice. You will either receive credit for Composition + Diversity: Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice or for Composition + Social Sciences. If you have questions about what General Education requirements a course will fulfill, please contact your school’s advising office.
Changes to General Education for Students First Enrolled Before Fall 2023
Effective in Fall 2023, Binghamton University will be phasing in SUNY’s new General Education Framework. Your requirements did not change, but you might see some name changes!
For transfer students we will be following the SUNY guidance below.
"Where there has been no interruption of study beyond two academic years, campuses must grant students the opportunity to pursue the GE requirements in place at the time of first enrollment. For interruptions in study longer than two academic years, to promote student success and support timely degree completion, campuses may grant students the opportunity to pursue the GE requirements in place at the time of first enrollment."
Categories
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Categories with a name change Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice - D U.S. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice - USD World Language - WL1, WL2, WL3 |
Former name Pluralism in the United States - P U.S. History Pluralism - USP Foreign Language - FL1, FL2, FL3 |
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Categories with NO name change Composition - C, Oral Communication - O or Joint Composition + Oral Communication - J Mathematics - M Laboratory Sciences - L Humanities - H Physical Activity - Y, Wellness - S or Both Physical Activity/Wellness - B Global Interdependencies - G Aesthetics - A Social Sciences - N |
DegreeWorks Example
Requirements
Requirements may differ by catalog year; please follow the Academic Guide (Formerly Bulletin) and planning sheet for your catalog year. If you have questions, please see your academic advisor.
- 2024-2025 Academic Guide
- Previous Guides or Bulletins can be found on the Academic Guide site on the left navigation.
- Find Appropriate Year Planning Sheet Here
World Language Requirements
World Language skills are ensured by requiring that students pass either an approved WL3 (third-semester college-level) course in one world language or an approved WL2 (second-semester college-level) course in two world languages, or satisfactorily complete some other significant activity that requires second-level world language proficiency as a prerequisite, such as study abroad in a non-English environment or an internship serving people who can communicate only in a language other than English.
Students may fulfill the world language requirement prior to enrolling in college either by completing four or more units of one high school world language with a course grade in the fourth unit of 85 or better, or three units each of two high school languages with course grades in each third unit of 85 or better, by passing the AP examination (or its equivalent) with a score of 3 or better, or by demonstrating equivalent proficiency in some other fashion.
Exceptions
- The World Language requirement is waived for students in Watson College engineering programs.
- The World Language requirement for students in the Decker School of Nursing and Watson College computer science program is fulfilled by one approved college course in world language at any level. This requirement may also be fulfilled in high school by demonstrating a level of proficiency equivalent to completing three or more units of high school world language with a Regents or LOTE/Checkpoint B Examination score of 85 or better (or, for students who did not take the Regents or LOTE/Checkpoint B Examination, a course grade in the third unit of 85 or better).
- The World Language requirement for transfer students in the College of Community and Public Affairs, Harpur College, and the School of Management is fulfilled by an approved WL2 (second-semester college-level) course in world language. This requirement may also be fulfilled in high school by demonstrating a level of proficiency equivalent to completing three or more units of high school world language with a Regents or LOTE/Checkpoint B Examination score of 85 or better (or, for students who did not take the Regents or LOTE/Checkpoint B Examination, a course grade in the third unit of 85 or better). See the Transfer Student page for more information.
Note: Students who have completed a fourth-level high school language with a passing grade or third-level high school language with a Regents or LOTE/Checkpoint B Examination score of 85 or better (or, for students who did not take the Regents or LOTE/Checkpoint B Examination, a course grade of 85 or better) are considered to have completed two semesters of a college-level language and can fulfill the requirement by completing either the WL3 course of that language or the WL2 course of a second language.
Proficiency Testing in World Language
Students may only request to be proficiency tested in languages they did not study in high school. For more information go here.
World Language Internships or Study Abroad
Beginning with the 2004 catalog year, students may fulfill the World Language requirement by satisfactorily completing some other significant activity that requires second-level world language proficiency as a prerequisite, such as study abroad in a non-English environment or an internship serving people who can communicate only in a language other than English.
For information on how to fulfill the World Language requirement through study abroad, contact International Education and Global Initiatives (IEGI) at iegi@binghamton.edu or by phone at 607-777-2336.
Students Whose Native Language is Not English
Students whose native language is not English and heritage language speakers may be able to fulfill the World Language requirement by alternate means.
We waive student's WL requirement if they have:
- ESL/ELI on their college transcript;
- required to take a TOEFL test for admissions; or
- student came to the US after age 12 and all of their previous schooling was in another language.
For more information please email Undergraduate Education.
Students with Disabilities
Students with documented disabilities who feel their disabilities will impact their academic tenure at Binghamton University should contact the Office for Services for Students with Disabilities at ext. 7-2686 or 607-777-2686, or email-ssd@binghamton.edu.
