Jul 04, 2025  
2025-2026 Catalog 
    
2025-2026 Catalog

Associate of Arts (AA) General Education Core


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Blue Ridge Community and Technical College has a General Education Core designed to fulfill the three institutional goals:

  • The student will develop college-level communication skills.
  • The student will develop general knowledge about and awareness of society.
  • The student will develop fundamental thinking and reasoning skills necessary for academic study and career success.

To graduate with a certificate after 30 credits of study, a student is required to take 6 credits from the General Education Core, one course in Communication, and one in Mathematics, thus addressing goals one and three.

To graduate with an Associate of Applied Science degree, a student is required to take 15 credits from the General Education Core, including one course in Communication, one in Social & Cultural Awareness, and one in Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning, thus addressing all three institutional goals.

To graduate with either Associate of Arts degree or an Associate of Science degree –degrees that typically prepare a student to continue to a four-year institution or beyond – a student is required to take 24 credits from the General Education Core, including one course in Communication, one in Social & Cultural Awareness, and one in Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning, thus addressing all three institutional goals.

Refer to the Academic Programs  section in the catalog to see which of the General Education Core courses fulfill the requirements for that degree.

General education courses approved for an Associate of Arts degree are included in the following table.

Communication

Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning

Social & Cultural Awareness

COMM 202 ~Fundamentals of Speech (3)

BIOL 100 Human Body (3)

ART 103 ~Intro to Visual Arts (3)

ENGL 101 ^English Composition I (3)

BIOL 101 ^General Biological Science I (4)

BUSN 160 Organizational Behavior (3)

ENGL 102 ^English Composition II (3)

BIOL 102 ~General Biological Science II (4)

ECON 123 ~Contemporary Economics (3)

ENGL 204 ~Sur of American Lit (3)

BIOL 120 ^Human Anatomy & Physiology I (3) and BIOL 121 ^ Human Anatomy & Physiology I Lab (1)

ENGL 215 ~The Art of Literature (3)

ENGL 208 ~Sur of World Lit I (3)

BIOL 122 ^Human Anatomy & Physiology II (3) and BIOL 123  ^Human Anatomy & Physiology II Lab (1)

GEOG 105 ~World Cultural Geography (3)

 

BIOL 220 Microbiology (3) and BIOL 221 Microbiology Lab (1)

GSPE 210 Fitness for Life (3)

 

CHEM 127 ~General Organic & Biochem I (4)

HIST 101 ~Wld Hist to 1500:Early Man-Re (3)

 

CHEM 128 ~General Organic & Biochem II (4)

HIST 102 ~Wld Hist since 1500:Ren-Prsnt (3)

 

GEOL 101 ~Geological Sciences (4)

HIST 210 ~WV and Appalachian History (3)

 

GEOL 103 Historical Geology (4)

MUSC 111 ~Introduction to Music (3)

 

MATH 101 ~Intro to Mathematics (3)

PHIL 101 Intro to Philosophy (3)

 

MATH 105 ^Algebra (3)

PHIL 111 Phil of World Religions (3)

 

MATH 106 ^Trigonometry (3)

PSCI 100 ~Intro to Political Ideology (3)

 

MATH 108 ^Pre-Calculus (4)

PSCI 101 ~Amer Federal Government (3)

 

MATH 114 ~Elementary Probability & Stats (3)

PSCI 201 Intro to Int’l Relations (3)

 

MATH 154 ~Finite Mathematics (3)

PSYC 203 ~Introduction to Psychology (3)

 

PHYS 103 ~General Physical Science I (4)

PSYC 210 Human Growth and Development (3)

 

PHYS 104 ~General Physical Science II (4)

SOCI 203 ~General Sociology (3)

 

 

SOCI 215 ~Human Relations (3)

 

 

THEA 101 ~Introduction to Theatre (3)

 

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