Students need at least 120 credits to graduate. These credits consist of about 45 credits of General Education (Gen Eds requirements, at least 36 or more credits in the student's respective major and at least 18 credits of a minor or free elective credits.
General Education Requirements-Learning Outcomes (effective Fall 2024)
Gen Ed Curriculum Path Chart (for students who entered NJCU Fall 2024 or later)
General Education Requirements-Tiers/Learning Outcomes (Fall 2021-Spring 2024)
General Education Requirements -Tiers/Modes of Inquiry (Fall 2015-Spring 2021)
3-GS Requirements (Before Fall 2015)
General Education Course List by Gen Ed Program from 3-GS-Spring 2024
The General Education Program provides students with invaluable learning experiences across a wide range of academic fields on topics of general interest. While major and minor programs focus on specific disciplines, the general education program ensures that all students, regardless of major, explore a range of scholarly approaches in a variety of fields. While its scope is broad, general education prioritizes in-depth, active learning and emphasizes essential skills building for success in college and beyond.
Students gain knowledge through study and experience; they discover and pursue their chosen areas of interest in courses that explore distinct approaches to intellectual inquiry.
Academic study becomes an integrative exploration of oneself and the world.
English Placement Criteria (Effective Fall 2024)
English Composition Flow Chart
Outline of the New Sequence:
ENGL100 - ENGL102 OR ENGL100 - ENGL101 - ENGL102
ENGL 100: Critical Reading and Writing (3 credits, maximum enrollment 20)
• Focuses on reading, writing, critical thinking, and discussion.
• Concentrates on a theme that is instructor chosen.
• Pre-req for 101; taken by all first-time (non-transfer) students.
• Encourages student engagement to improve attendance and completion.
• Includes a standardized assessment of a portfolio of students’ writing to determine subsequent placement.
ENGL 101: Critical Analysis and Writing (3 credits, maximum enrollment 15)
• Focuses on writing informal and formal essays in clear, standard prose.
• Emphasizes individualized instruction on skills that need work.
• AUR course, but exemptions for students assessed as ready for 102.
• Students will have an embedded tutor in their classes.
• Students with first-language interference issues place into ESL sections of 101.
ENGL 102: Critical Research and Writing (3 credits, maximum enrollment 15)
• Focuses on scholarly writing, critical thinking, and research skills.
• AUR course, taken in the second or third semester, depending on assessment.
• After completing 100, students exempted from 101 place directly into 102.
• Eventually, different sections may focus on different disciplines to prepare students for discipline-specific writing instruction in their majors
Placement
New students should be placed into ENGL 100, with these exceptions. Transfer students who have taken 3 credits of first-year comp go directly into ENGL 102, as before. They do not need to take ENGL 100. Students with a waiver of GE requirements don't need to take any comp classes. Assessment scores will be in GothicNet near the end of each semester to determine placement in the semester after ENGL 100.
Implementation
Continuing students who have failed ENGL101 (including ALP 101) should be placed in the 101 sections. Continuing students who haven't taken any composition classes yet can be placed into 100.
Students who have passed 101 but not 102 should be placed in the 102 sections.
Math Placement Criteria (Effective Spring 2025)
Non STEM/Business
High School CGPA Placement
3.00 or more Math 114 or 140
Below 3.00 Math 100
Math Sequence for Non-STEM/Business Majors:
Students who place into MATH100 their first semester, will then take MATH114 or MATH140 the next semester
STEM/Business
High School CGPA Placement
3.80 or more Math164 or Math175
3.79 and Below Math112
Math Sequence for STEM and Business Majors:
Students who place into MATH112 their first semester will take either MATH175 (STEM) or MATH164 (Business) the following semester
The Academic Foundations Program provides assistance to students who need additional background work in mathematics, reading, and/or writing. Courses in this program carry college credits, but only those numbered 100-level or higher count toward the 120 credit hours needed for graduation.
The placement of students into specific All University Requirement (AUR) courses is based upon a student's Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in high school. This information is used to determine whether students need help in particular areas in order to succeed in college-level work and to assist in placing students in particular courses suited to their skill levels.
Former English and Math Placement Criteria (Fall 2021-Spring 2024)
New Jersey City University will utilize the following placement criteria as of the Fall 2022 incoming Freshmen class.
Math Placement Criteria:
Non STEM/Business
High School CGPA Placement
3.00 or more Math 114 or 140
Below 3.00 Math 100
STEM/Business
High School CGPA Placement
3.80 or more Math164 or Math175
3.00-3.79 Math112
Below 3.00 Math96/Math106
English Placement Criteria:
High School CGPA Placement
3.00 or above English 101
2.99 or below English95/English101