General Education Courses

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Find courses to meet General Education Requirements

What are the General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) recommendations?

The Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) has identified a set of core courses that are recommended for anyone seeking an Associate or Bachelor's degree. Successful completion of these core courses at any participating college or university will facilitate transfer to any other participating institution's Associate or Bachelor degree program.

Can I meet IAI GECC recommendations online in Illinois?

In some cases, colleges or universities in Illinois have a complete set of courses available online to satisfy the GECC recommendations. You also have the option of taking courses from several different institutions in order to complete your GECC recommendations. In either case, the IVC can help you find online courses that will allow you to meet the IAI GECC recommendations.

What are Residency Requirements?

Most institutions have a requirement that you take a specified number of credit hours at their institution if you plan to receive a degree at that institution. In other words, in most cases you cannot take courses from many different institutions and "piece them together" to earn a degree. You must take a block of hours from the institution granting the degree. This requirement is called the residency requirement.

The number of credit hours required to meet the residency requirement varies by institution. A typical number of credit hours at a community college is fifteen hours, although some require more than fifteen. The number of hours to meet the requirement at a four-year college or university might be greater than fifteen as well. There are also constraints on when the block of hours must be taken. Some community colleges require you to take the last fifteen hours from them. Others allow you to spread them out over the course of your degree. You should contact the college or university you plan to attend and ask about the residency requirement before you enroll in online courses.

What are the specific GECC course recommendations?

To complete the GECC recommendations, students are required to take 12 to 13 courses (37 to 41 semester hours). No more than two courses from one discipline can be used to fulfill the GECC recommendations. Below is a brief overview of the recommendations:

* Communications: 3 courses (9 semester hours)
* Humanities and Fine Arts: 3 courses (9 semester hours)
* Mathematics: 1 or 2 courses (3 to 6 semester hours)
* Physical and Life Sciences: 2 courses (7 to 8 semester hours)
* Social and Behavioral Sciences: 3 courses (9 semester hours)

For additional information, you can visit the iTransfer web site at http://www.itransfer.org/IAI/GenEd/Default.taf?page=refpage.

What is ILCCO and how can it help me with GECC courses ?

ILCCO, Illinois Community Colleges Online, is a consortium of community colleges in Illinois that share online courses among their member colleges. A student enrolled at their local community college could take an online course from any other member college just as if though it were offered by their local college. The student's local community college handles all registration, transcripts, tuition, and financial aid. If you can't find a course at your local community college, look for an ILCCO course (courses marked by ) and talk to your academic advisor about purchasing you a seat in the course you need.

Important Advice!

If your goal is to complete an Associate's or Bachelor's degree you should speak with an advisor at the institution where you plan to earn the degree to make sure that any courses you take will count toward your degree. All IVC course detail pages contain contact information for the institution offering the courses.