JMU's General Education Program is organized into five areas of study. In order to graduate, each student must complete all five areas (13 courses in total). The following courses will meet JMU's General Education requirements. Please note: These suggestion are for students who are not earning a transferable associate degree. If you are earning the degree, you do not need to match up your curriculum with General Education; the degree itself fulfills those requirements. Click here to access the current General Education Program Planner.

This list is for students who have not yet entered JMU. Current JMU students should consult the General Education website, as there are some restrictions on taking general education courses elsewhere once a student has matriculated at JMU.

NOTE: The word "AND" between VCCS course numbers indicates JMU credit will be awarded for the completion of the VCCS sequence.

 

General Education Equivalents

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Madison Foundations (3 courses)

JMU Course: BUS 160, Business Decision Making in a Modern Society, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: BUS 100
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: PHIL 120, Critical Thinking, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: PHI 111 
  • RBC Course Equivalent: PHIL 121

JMU Course: PHIL 150, Ethical Reasoning, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: PHI 220
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

 

JMU Course: SCOM 121, 122 or 123, Fundamental Human Communication

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: CST 100, 105, 110 or 115
  • RBC Course Equivalent: SPCH 101 or 201

JMU Course: WRTC 103, Critical Reading and Writing

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: ENG 112 (ENG 111 is the prerequisite to 112)
  • RBC Course Equivalent: ENGL 101
Arts and Humanities (3 courses)

JMU Course: AMST 200, Introduction to American Studies, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: HUM 211 or 212
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: GNED 121*, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: HIS 101 or 102 or REL 237 or 240

JMU Course: HIST 101, World History to 1500 or HIST 102, World History Since 1500, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: HIS 111 or 112
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: HUM 250, Foundations of Western Culture, or HUM 251, Modern Perspectives, or HUM 252, Global Cultures, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: HUM 201, 202, 215, 216, 259 or 260 or PHI 260
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: PHIL 101, Introduction to Philosophy, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: PHI 100, 101, 102, 200, 211 or 212
  • RBC Course Equivalent: PHIL 101

JMU Course: REL 101, Religions of the World

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: REL 230, or 231 and 232
  • RBC Course Equivalent: REL 209

*Not an actual course at JMU but will satisfy this requirement

JMU Course: ART 200, Art in General Culture or ARTH 205, Survery of World Art: Prehistoric to Renaissance or ARTH 206, Survey or World Art: Renaissance to Modern, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: ART 100, 101, 102, 105, 111, 112, 201 or 202
  • RBC Course Equivalent: ART 201, 202 or 231

JMU Course: MUS 200, Music in General Culture, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MUS 121
  • RBC Course Equivalent: MUS 103

JMU Course: MUS 203, Music in America, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MUS 125
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: MUS 206, Introduction to Global Music

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MUS 226
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: THEA 210, Introduction to Theatre

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: CST 130 or 141
  • RBC Course Equivalent: THEA 201

JMU Course: ENG 221, 222, 235, 236, 239, 247 248 or 260 or HUM 200

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: ENG 230, 233, 236, 237, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 260, 267, 268, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 276 or 278 or HUM 111 or 112
  • RBC Course Equivalent: ENGL 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 210, 211, 212, 213 or 214
The Natural World (3 courses)

JMU Course: MATH 001*, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MTH 150, 156, or 165
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: MATH 011*, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MTH 241
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: MATH 103, The Nature of Math, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MTH 151, 152, or 154 
  • RBC Course Equivalent: MATH 105, 110

JMU Course: MATH 205, Introductory Calculus, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MTH 175, 261, 270 or 271
  • RBC Course Equivalent: MATH 207

JMU Course: MATH 235, Calculus I, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MTH 173, 175 and 176, 263 or 273
  • RBC Course Equivalent: MATH 201

JMU Course: MATH 220, Elementary Statistics

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: MTH 146, 155, 157, 240, 241 and 242 or 245
  • RBC Course Equivalent: MATH 217

*Not a specific class at JMU, but satisfies general education requirement for this group/cluster.

JMU Course: ASTR 120, The Solar System, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: NAS 130 or 131 or PHY 150
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: ASTR 121, Stars, Galaxies and Cosmology, OR 

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: NAS 132
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: CHEM 120, 120L, Concepts of Chemistry, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: CHM 101
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: CHEM 131, 131L, General Chemistry I, OR 

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: CHM 111
  • RBC Course Equivalent: CHEM 101
  • Note: Labs for CHM 111 and CHEM 101 must be in-person, supervised experiences.

JMU Course: ISAT 112, Environmental Issues in Science and Technology, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: No equivalent
  • RBC Course Equivalent: CHEM 110, 110L

JMU Course: ISCI 101, Physics, Chemistry and the Human Experience, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: CHM 110** or PHY 100, 101 or 121 or ENV 220
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: PHYS 140, 140L, College Physics I, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: PHY 201 
  • RBC Course Equivalent: PHYS 101

JMU Course: PHYS 240, 240L, University Physics I

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: PHY 231 or 241
  • RBC Course Equivalent: PHYS 201

**This class does not have an attached lab and therefore does NOT count as a lab science for the purpose of admission to JMU. See the admissions web site for admission criteria.

JMU Course: BIO 140, 140L Foundations of Biology I, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: BIO 101
  • RBC Course Equivalent: BIO 101

JMU Course: BIO 270, 270L Human Physiology, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: BIO 141 and 142 or 231 and 232
  • RBC Course Equivalent: BIO 205 and 206

JMU Course: BIO 103, Contemporary Biology, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: BIO 106 or 145 or NAS 161 and 162 or ENV 195 (only transfers from Rappahannock and Reynolds CC) or ENV 295 (only transfers from Rappahannock CC)
  • RBC Course Equivalent: BIO 101

JMU Course: GEOL 102, Environment: Earth, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: BIO 107, ENV 121, GOL 106 or 110
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: GEOL 110, 110L Physical Geology, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: GOL 105
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: GEOL 211, Introduction to Oceanography

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: GOL 111
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

**This class does not have an attached lab and therefore does NOT count as a lab science for the purpose of admission to JMU. See the admissions web site for admission criteria.

American and Global Perspectives (2 courses)

JMU Course: HIST 225, U.S. History, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: HIS 121 and 122
  • RBC Course Equivalent: HIST 201 and 202

JMU Course: POSC 225, U.S. Government

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: PLS 130, 135 or 211
  • RBC Course Equivalent: GOVT 201

JMU Course: ANTH 195, Cultural Anthropology, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: SOC 211
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

JMU Course: ECON 200, Introduction to Macroeconomics, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: ECO 201
  • RBC Course Equivalent: ECON 201

JMU Course: GEOG 200, Geography: The Global Dimension, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: GEO 220, 221 or 222
  • RBC Course Equivalent: GEO 101

JMU Course: SOCI 001*

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: SOC 268
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

*Not an actual course at JMU but the VCCS course meets this requirement.

Sociocultural and Wellness (2 courses)

JMU Course: HTH 100, Personal Wellness

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: HLT 110, 116 or 160
  • RBC Course Equivalent: HLTH 225

JMU Course: PSYC 101, General Psychology, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: PSY 200 or PSY 201 and 202
  • RBC Course Equivalent: PSY 201 and 202

JMU Course: PSYC 160, Life Span Human Development, OR

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: PSY 230 or PSY 231 and 232
  • RBC Course Equivalent: PSY 250

JMU Course: SOCI 002*

  • VCCS Course Equivalent: SOC 200
  • RBC Course Equivalent: No equivalent

*Not an actual course at JMU but the VCCS course meets this requirement.

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