Main navigation
Your General Education CLAS Core requirements will appear on your UI degree audit and will be based on the year you entered the University of Iowa.
General Education CLAS Core courses for your year of entry to UI may be found by logging into your MyUI account, going to the MyUI schedule while logged in, and using the search tools for General Education courses. Courses will found that are required for your year of entry into UI as long as you remain logged in to MyUI. Questions? Email us at clas-undergrad@uiowa.edu or call 319-335-2633
Click on the course number to find the General Education area that the course fulfills.
Communication and literacy
- Understanding Cultural Perspectives: 3 semester hours
- Rhetoric: 4 semester hours
- Interpretation of Literature: 3 semester hours
- World Languages: variable semester hours
Sustainability
- Sustainability courses will count for two CLAS Core requirements, i.e. for Sustainability and one other approved GE CLAS Core course in Natural, Quantitative, and Social Sciences or Culture, Society, and the Arts.
- Courses in Sustainability will appear on the Fall 2022 MyUI course schedule and may be found by logging into your MyUI account, going to the MyUI schedule while logged in, and using the search tools for General Education courses. Courses will found that are required for your year of entry into UI, with Sustainability courses listed and with the second General Education requirement also stated. You will complete both requirements listed when you successfully finish the course.
Natural, quantitative, and social sciences
- Natural Sciences: 7 semester hours with one lab
- Quantitative or Formal Reasoning: 3 semester hours
- Social Sciences : 3 semester hours
Culture, society, and the arts
- Historical Perspectives: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- International and Global Issues: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- Values and Society: a minimum of 3 semester hours
Those students entering UI during Summer 2017 through Spring 2022 must complete the GE requirements as noted on their degree audit and as listed below: Students who reenter the University of Iowa after an absence of more than 12 months will be held to the GE requirements under which they first entered Iowa. If a student transfers within UI from another undergraduate college into CLAS, the date the student entered UI is still the date that determines the student's GE requirements. Any student may switch to the new CLAS Core requirements, but once making this choice may not move back to the older requirements. Students interested in switching should first discuss the choice with an advisor and then request the change in 120 Schaeffer Hall.
Communication and literacy
- Understanding Cultural Perspectives: 3 semester hours
- Rhetoric: 4 semester hours
- Interpretation of Literature: 3 semester hours
- World Languages: variable semester hours
Natural, quantitative, and social sciences
- Natural Sciences: 7 semester hours with one lab
- Quantitative or Formal Reasoning: 3 semester hours
- Social Sciences: 3 semester hours
Culture, society, and the arts
- Historical Perspectives: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- International and Global Issues: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- Values and Society: a minimum of 3 semester hours
Those students entering UI during Summer 2011 through Spring 2017 must complete the GE requirements as noted on their degree audit and as listed below. Students who reenter the University of Iowa after an absence of more than 12 months will be held to the GE requirements under which they first entered Iowa. If a student transfers within UI from another undergraduate college into CLAS, the date the student entered UI is still the date that determines the student's GE requirements.Any student held to the older requirements may switch to the new requirements, but once making this choice may not move back to the older requirements. Students interested in switching should first discuss the choice with an advisor and then request the change in 120 Schaeffer Hall.
Communication and literacy
- Rhetoric 4 semester hours
- Interpretation of Literature 3 semester hours
- World Languages (variable semester hours)
Natural, quantitative, and social sciences
- Natural Sciences (7 semester hours with one lab)
- Quantitative or Formal Reasoning (3 semester hours)
- Social Sciences (3 semester hours)
Culture, society, and the arts
- Historical Perspectives: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- International and Global Issues: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts: a minimum of 3 semester hours
- Values, Society, and Diversity: a minimum of 3 semester hours (Please see offerings on MyUI using the GE search feature.)
Those students entering UI before summer 2011 must complete the GE requirements as noted on their degree audit and as listed below. Students who reenter the University of Iowa after an absence of more than 12 months will be held to the GE requirements under which they first entered Iowa. If a student transfers within UI from another undergraduate college into CLAS, the date the student entered UI is still the date that determines the student's GE requirements. Any student held to the older requirements may switch to the new requirements, but once making this choice may not move back to the older requirements. Students interested in switching should first discuss the choice with an advisor and then request the change in 120 Schaeffer Hall.
- Rhetoric (4 semester hours)
- Interpretation of Literature (3 semester hours)
- World Languages (fourth-level proficiency) (variable semester hours)
- Natural Sciences (7 semester hours with one lab)
- Quantitative or Formal Reasoning (3 semester hours)
- Social Sciences (3 semester hours)
- Historical Perspectives (3 semester hours)
- Humanities (3 semester hours)
- Distributed Category (6 semester hours) Students complete at least 6 semester hours of distributed requirements, at least 3 semester hours from each of 2 different categories listed below:
- Humanities
- Social Sciences
- Foreign Civilization and Culture
- Cultural Diversity
- Fine Arts
- Health & Physical Activity
- Historical Perspectives