Academic Catalog 2023-2024

General Education Requirements

Pratt’s General Education curriculum is designed to ensure students’ achievement of eight program‐level competencies: Oral and Written Communication Skills, Scientific and Quantitative Reasoning, Critical Analysis and Reasoning, Technology Competency, Respect for Human Differences, Information Literacy, Reflective Practice, and Historical and Cultural Awareness.


The complete General Education curriculum for a typical Pratt student includes the following elements:

  • A General Education “Core” in the first two years of the degree program, which comprises:
    • 6 credits of literary theory and direct instruction in writing, provided through the HMS-101A/201A Humanities Core sequence or their equivalents.
    • 9 credits distributed evenly across three “Core menus.” Six of these nine credits must be classified as Writing Intensive. These credits are distributed as follows:
      • 3 credits from the Mathematics and Science Core Menu
      • 3 credits from the “Global Perspectives” Core Menu, administered by the department of Social Science and Cultural Studies
      • 3 credits from the “Ways of Knowing/Thinking/Doing” Core Menu also administered by Social Science and Cultural Studies
    • The first year of the General Education Core also includes 6 credits of Art/Design History survey, delivered as the HAD‐111/112 Themes in Art/Culture sequence.
  • 15 credits of “Post‐Core” general studies elective content drawn from the offerings of the Mathematics and Science Department, the Humanities and Media Studies Department, and the Social Science and Cultural Studies Department. At least 9 of these 15 credits must be at the 300‐level or above. SLAS-administered minors could be used to fulfill Post-Core General Education requirements. Some of the SLAS minors may include courses that could be taken in the freshman and sophomore "Core" years, as well. Contact your advisor or the minor coordinator for details.