General Education Requirements

General Education Requirements

Discuss your options with your academic advisor who can guide you in determining which courses from UW-Platteville or other institutions will meet your general education requirements.

You can complete your general education requirements by

• Taking distance courses through UW-Platteville (indicated as hyperlinks below)
• Taking distance courses through UW Colleges or UW Independent Learning
• Taking approved on-campus or online courses from UW-Platteville or other institutions
• Transferring approved credits from other institutions

A. Competency Requirements (11 credits total)

Communication (8 credits)

English Composition

• ENGLISH 1130 Freshman Composition
• ENGLISH 1230 Freshman Composition

Speech Communication (2 credits)

• SPEECH 1010 Public Speaking

Mathematics (3 credits)

At least one math course at or above MATH 1630 is required. Elementary Statistics (MATH 1830 or equivalent) is recommended.

B. Liberal Arts Requirements (36 credits total)

Fine Arts, Humanities, and Historical Perspective (12 credits)

You must earn at least three credits in each of these areas and a fourth course as explained below:

Fine Arts (3 credits) 
Includes courses in art, music, and theater
MUSIC 1590 Music Appreciation

Humanities (3 credits) 
Includes courses in literature, foreign language, philosophy, or women’s studies

Historical Perspective (3 credits) 
Includes history courses

Fourth course (3 credits) 
The remaining three credits must be a second course from one of the disciplines chosen for the first course in Fine Arts or Humanities or Historical Perspective.

For example, if you took a course in English literature for the humanities requirement, you could take another literature course as your fourth course, but a course in philosophy would not qualify since it wouldn't match the same discipline as your prior course for the humanities requirement.

C. Social Science (9 credits)

You must take at least three credits in each of two disciplines, including economics, political science, psychology, sociology, cultural geography, women's studies, and criminal justice. The remaining three credits must be a second course in one of the disciplines chosen.

• CRIMLJUS 1130 Introduction to Criminal Justice¹
• ECONOMIC 2130 Principles of Macroeconomics
• ECONOMIC 2230 Principles of Microeconomics

¹ Required for the degree

D. Natural Science (9 credits)

You must take courses from at least two different disciplines including physics, biology, chemistry, geography, physical science, and geology, and each course must involve a laboratory experience.

E. International Education (3 credits)

• BUSADMIN 1300 Global Business

F. Ethnic & Gender Studies (3 – 6 credits)

You must take at least three credits in ethnic studies and three credits in gender studies, or take one 3-credit course that satisfies both the ethnic and gender studies requirement.

• BUSADMIN 3340 Management, Gender, & Race
  (This course satisfies both the ethnic and gender requirements)

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Criminal Justice Major Requirements

For the criminal justice major, students must earn a minimum of 36 credits (12 courses) as outlined below. All of these courses are offered online through UW-Platteville:

A. Core Requirement (15 credits)

• CRIMLJUS 1130 Introduction to Criminal Justice
• CRIMLJUS 2130 The Police Function
• CRIMLJUS 2230 Correctional Philosophy
• CRIMLJUS 4030 Criminal Law
• CRIMLJUS 4930 Criminal Justice Seminar (Each major must pass the departmental writing proficiency exam before taking CJ Seminar.)

B. Research Methods Requirement (3 credits)

• CRIMLJUS 3900 Research Methods in Criminal Justice ^{2
  2} This course has a prerequisite of CRIMLJUS 2130 and 2230 with a "C" or higher, MATH 1830 (Elementary Statistics), and junior standing or consent of the instructor.

C. Theory Requirement (3 credits)

• CRIMLJUS 3630 Juvenile Justice
  ...OR...
• CRIMLJUS 3430 Patterns of Criminal Justice & Delinquent Behavior

D. Electives Requirement (15 credits)

• CRIMLJUS 3130 Criminal Investigation ³
• CRIMLJUS 3330 Police Administration ³
• CRIMLJUS 4130 Police-Community Relations ³
• CRIMLJUS 4230 Community-Based Corrections ⁴
• CRIMLJUS 4330 Criminal Procedures and Evidence ⁵

³ These courses have a prerequisite of CRIMLJUS 2130 with a “C” or higher and junior standing or consent of the instructor.

⁴ This course has a prerequisite of CRIMLJUS 2230 with a “C” or higher and junior standing or consent of the instructor.

⁵ This course has a prerequisite of CCRIMLJUS 4030 with a “C” or higher and junior standing or consent of the instructor.