Baker University General Education Core Requirements

Program Description

Transfer students who have been awarded an Associate of Arts (A.A.) or Associate of Science (A.S.) with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00, will be exempted from general education requirements, with the exception of the following:

• 6 credit hours of upper-college Baker Core Concentration courses

• BC 400 Interdisciplinary Capstone

Transfer students who have been awarded an Associate of General Studies (A.G.S.) must still fulfill the following proficiencies and general education requirements, unless satisfied by accepted transfer courses:

• Mathematics proficiency

• BC 120 First Year Seminar II

• 6 credit hours of upper-college Baker Core Concentration courses

• BC 400 Interdisciplinary Capstone

The Baker Core is the central educational experience for all College of Arts and Sciences and Undergraduate School of Education students, no matter their major course of study.

The Baker Core consists of 33 hours of course work, including: 

• BC 110 and BC 120*, * Transfer students will receive course exemptions based on the following criteria:

  • BC 110: a grade of C- or higher in a standard 3 credit hour college composition course

  • BC 120: a grade of C- or higher in both:

  • a second-level 3 credit hour college composition course and
  • a standard 3 credit hour college oral communication course

The Core Concentration consists of 24 credit hours approved for the chosen Theme, six each from the following Approaches: CA: Creative Arts, HU: Humanities, SS: Social Sciences, NS: Natural Sciences. Of these 24 credit hours:  

• at least 12 credit hours, 3 from each Approach, must be in the chosen Theme
• at least 6 credit hours must be upper-college (300/400-level) and must be in the chosen Theme
• no more than 6 credit hours in the same discipline may also count towards the Major or Minor Area of Concentration
• no more than 3 credit hours may come from a repeatable course with the same content
• an individual course may count towards either the Core Concentration or a B.A./B.S. graduation requirement, but not both

• BC 400, an Interdisciplinary Capstone course, taken after completion of the 24 Core Concentration credit hours and upon reaching junior status (≥ 60 credit hours successfully completed)

• Please note: Baker University is not participating in the Kansas (KBOR) Systemwide General Education framework.

Program Description

The Baker Core Requirements (33 total credit hours)

BC 400 Interdisciplinary Capstone course, taken after completion of the 24 Core Concentration credit hours and upon reaching junior status (≥ 60 credit hours successfully completed) 

Must take at Baker 

Core Concentration: Choose one Theme from the four Themes listed below. (24 hours total)  Select 6 hours from the following Approaches: CA: Creative Arts, HU: Humanities, SS: Social Sciences, and NS: Natural Sciences for the chosen Theme. 

Creative Arts (drawing, photography, creative writing, music, theatre) 

Visit JCCC Art (ART) for course options.

Visit JCCC Photography PHOT for course options.

Visit JCCC English ENGL for course options.

Visit JCCC Music MUS for course options.

Visit JCCC Theater THEA for course options.

Humanities (literature, international language, primary texts, religious studies) 

Visit JCCC English ENGL for course options.

Visit JCCC Foreign Language FL for course options.

Visit JCCC Philosophy PHIL for course options.

Visit JCCC Religion REL for course options.

Social Sciences (sociology, communication, psychology, gender studies, history, mass media) 

Visit JCCC Sociology SOC for course options.

Visit JCCC Communication Studies COMS for course options.

Visit JCCC Psychology PSYC for course options.

Visit JCCC Women and Gender Studies WGS (Gender Studies) for course options.

Visit JCCC History HIST for course options.

Visit JCCC Journalism/Media Communication JOUR (Mass Media) for course options.

Natural Sciences (human biology, genetics, kinesiology, math, physics, astronomy) 

Visit JCCC Biology BIOL (+ Genetics) for course options.

Visit JCCC Physical Ed, Health & Rec HPER (Kinesiology) for course options.

Visit JCCC Mathematics MATH for course options.

Visit JCCC Physics PHYS for course options.

Visit JCCC Astronomy ASTR for course options.