Gen Ed courses taken SEM/UEM in Spring 2020 will count towards Gen Ed requirements, but will not count against the limit of fulfilling one Gen Ed requirement with a course taken Pass/Fail.

How do I enroll for a Gen Ed course Pass/Fail?

Information about enrolling in courses Pass/Fail can be found on the Registrar's website. Once you have enrolled in a course, you can fill out a Change of Petition form in the Documents Center of my.harvard. After completing the form and obtaining the necessary signatures, please submit it to your house.

How are courses approved for Gen Ed requirements?

Courses are approved for the Program in General Education by the Standing Committee on General Education. Faculty interested in proposing a course for Gen Ed should consult the guidance for faculty.

Students cannot ordinarily petition courses to count for Gen Ed requirements.

How do I know if a course is moving out of – or back into – my department?

We hope that most faculty know by now if their course either is or isn’t going to be part of the new program, but if you have any questions, you can either check the Gen Ed website or contact the Gen Ed office. We’d be happy to help.

A departmental course has been accepted to the new Gen Ed. What’s next?

The next step for Gen Ed will be to take ownership of the course’s catalog listing for continuity, as well as to track course enrollment and Q scores. The Gen Ed office may reach out you to ask that you grant us course catalog access to a departmental course that is being moved into Gen Ed.

A faculty member in my department taught a course in Gen Ed that is not moving into the new program. What happens now?

It depends. The faculty member may wish for you to inactivate the course in the catalog, effectively “retiring” it, or they may wish to offer it as a departmental course. If they wish to offer it as a departmental course, please contact the Gen Ed office so that we may transfer ownership of the course catalog listing to your department.

Do departmental courses count for the new Gen Ed?

No. Only courses explicitly designed for and approved for the new Gen Ed program (with GENED XXXX as a number) will count for General Education credit. This means that you should remove Gen Ed attributes from all departmental courses being offered beginning in Fall 2019. If you have any questions about how to remove Gen Ed attributes, please contact the FAS Registrar’s Office.

What are the changes to Gen Ed requirements and course codes?

The outgoing Program in General education requires that students complete courses in eight different categories, but the new Gen Ed requires only four: Aesthetics & Culture; Ethics & Civics; Histories, Societies, Individuals; and Science & Technology in Society. In the new program, all courses have course codes that consist of “GENED” plus a four-digit number (e.g., GENED 1117). There will be no further use of the categories and course numbers you might be familiar with, such as AI, CB, SW or USW.

How are courses approved for the new program?

The Standing Committee on General Education, composed of faculty members, reviews course proposals, then communicates directly with faculty about whether or not the course is approved. Interested faculty can consult Proposing Courses.

Are all the courses from the current Gen Ed moving to the new Gen Ed?

No. It’s important to know that no courses were automatically accepted into the new program. Even Gen Ed courses taught in the current version of the program had to be resubmitted for consideration by the Standing Committee on General Education. This means that some courses were either not submitted by the faculty or not selected by the committee, so it’s important to make sure that all courses you think will be Gen Ed courses are actually staying Gen Ed courses. The Gen Ed office is happy to help you with any questions.

I am using Advanced Standing to pursue a fourth year’s master’s degree. Can I use a bracketed course to fulfill a Gen Ed requirement or other College requirements?

As described on the Office of Undergraduate Education website, “Under no circumstances may any bracketed course be considered both for undergraduate and graduate degree credit.”

Can I petition to have a Gen Ed course fulfill a different Gen Ed requirement?

No. Gen Ed courses can only be used to fulfill the requirements for which they have already been approved.

What are the College's Gen Ed requirements?

You must complete four Gen Ed courses, one from each of the following four Gen Ed categories.

Three of these courses must be letter-graded, while one may be taken pass/fail.

Will Advanced Standing reduce my Gen Ed requirements?

For the Class of 2020 and beyond, the Gen Ed requirements will not be reduced for students who activate Advanced Standing.

Which Gen Ed requirements do I have to fulfill?

Students in the Class of 2020 and later must complete the new Gen Ed requirements as well as the College's distribution requirement and the Quantitative Reasoning with Data requirement.

How are Gen Ed courses numbered?

The numbers for Gen Ed courses are randomly assigned. A higher course number does not indicate greater difficulty.

What is the College's Quantitative Reasoning with Data (QRD) requirement?

The College's Quantitative Reasoning with Data (QRD) requirement introduces you to mathematical, statistical, and computational methods that will enable you to think critically about data as it is employed in fields of inquiry across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

You can fulfill this requirement by completing a course approved for QRD. A list of courses approved for QRD can be found on the QRD page on the Office of Undergraduate Education website. Current QRD course offerings can be found through the course search in my.harvard.

What is the College's distribution requirement?

You must take a departmental course in each of the three main divisions of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences: Arts & Humanities, Science & Engineering, and Social Sciences. Further information about the distribution requirement can be found on the Office of Undergraduate Education site.

You can determine whether a course will fulfill a distribution requirement by examining the course description on my.harvard. Courses can also be searched by divisional affiliation on my.harvard:

How do I know which Gen Ed requirement a course fulfills?

There are several ways you can learn which Gen Ed requirement(s) a particular course fulfills:

Information about which requirement(s) a Gen Ed course fulfills can be found on the page for the course on the Gen Ed website.
Gen Ed courses can be searched by category.
The description of a course on my.harvard includes information about which Gen Ed requirement(s) it will fulfill at the bottom right.

Can Harvard Summer School courses fulfill Gen Ed requirements?

Some courses at the Harvard Summer School can be used to complete Gen Ed requirements.

Can I petition to have a course fulfill a Gen Ed requirement?

Ordinarily, only courses already approved for Gen Ed by the Standing Committee on General Education can be used to fulfill Gen Ed requirements.

However, it is possible to petition courses taken prior to Fall 2019 for the Ethics & Civics requirement. If you are interested in submitting a petition, you can do so through the Gen Ed Questions form.

Are Gen Ed requirements reduced for transfer students?

Gen Ed requirements will not be reduced for transfer students in the Class of 2020 and beyond.

Many transfer students will be able to use their transfer credits to fulfill one or more of the College's distribution requirement. For questions about this, please e-mail divdist@fas.harvard.edu.

How do I know which of the Gen Ed requirements I have fulfilled?

Your Academic Advising Report (AAR), available on my.harvard, tracks your progress towards your Gen Ed requirements. Learn how to generate your Academic Advising Report.

Can departmental courses, Freshman Seminars or Expos courses count for Gen Ed requirements?

Only courses offered through the Program in General Education (that is, courses with GENED course numbers) can be used to fulfill Gen Ed requirements.

How can I find Gen Ed courses?

You can explore Gen Ed courses by category. You can also see a complete list of Gen Ed courses, filterable by term offered.

To find information about Gen Ed courses' time and location, please visit my.harvard.

Can a course fulfill a Gen Ed requirement and also count for concentration credit or for secondary field credit?

Only Gen Ed courses can be used to fulfill Gen Ed requirements. Departments may elect to have Gen Ed courses count for concentration credit or for secondary field credit. Please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the relevant department to determine whether a particular Gen Ed course can be used for concentration or secondary credit.

Can a Gen Ed course fulfill more than one Gen Ed requirement?

Some Gen Ed courses are approved for two categories. However, an individual student will be able to use a particular course to fulfill only one requirement. For courses tagged for two requirements, you will be able to choose which requirement you would like to use it to complete. Please contact the Gen Ed office if you have any questions about Gen Ed courses approved for two categories.

Can I fulfill Gen Ed requirements with courses taken Pass/Fail?

You can fulfill one of your Gen Ed requirements with a course taken Pass/Fail (or SAT/UNSAT).

Gen Ed courses taken SEM/UEM in Spring 2020 will not count against the limit of fulfilling one Gen Ed requirement with a course taken Pass/Fail.

Will term-time study abroad reduce my Gen Ed requirements?

Beginning in Fall 2019, Gen Ed requirements will not be reduced for students who study abroad during term time. However, the Gen Ed requirement will be reduced by one course per term of Harvard College credit earned for term-time study abroad completed before Fall 2019, unless a student is granted a ninth term.

You might be able to fulfill one or more of the College's distribution requirements with courses taken abroad. Please contact divdist@fas.harvard.edu for further information.

Will a course graded SEM/UEM in Spring 2020 count towards Gen Ed requirements?