The Importance of General Education
Specialized study at an advanced level is only part of what gives the undergraduate university degree or diploma its special status. For centuries, the hallmark of a university education has also been the nurturing of every student's capacity to develop, assess and communicate their understanding of the world in which they live. In most modern universities, arts and science electives are offered in an attempt to achieve these goals. General Education at Mount Royal is a more consciously structured pursuit of the aims of what has traditionally been known as 'liberal education.' It ensures students achieve both breadth and depth in the skills and justifications of knowledge that are more relevant to the world in which they will live. Students in Mount Royal baccalaureate degree programs will complete 25% of their coursework (10 courses) as General Education Courses.
Ready for change
The General Education Program is founded on the recognition that students will live and work in a changing, often unpredictable world. Given the variability of careers and employment, together with the various unforeseen directions that personal development may take, General Education is dedicated to students' need for both the necessary capacities for life-long learning and a knowledge base that is transferable across academic disciplines and vocational contexts. Thus, general education provides students with the opportunity to enhance their ability to think critically, develop their communication and mathematical skills, stimulate their capacities for creative, innovative thinking, and enrich their knowledge of the wider social, cultural, and natural worlds in which they will have to live and work.
It's good and good for you
General Education at Mount Royal recognizes that undergraduate education should also strive to be of benefit to the individual and to society apart from the requirements of employment. It should, in particular, contribute to a student's capacity to be an informed, responsible, and responsive citizen. Thus, the General Education curriculum strives to provide a basis on which students can develop awareness of the intellectual, moral, aesthetic, and social contexts of their lives.