Core and Major Curriculum

Central to a McGhee education is a strong foundation in the liberal arts. An academic requirement that all McGhee students must fulfill, the 32 to 34 credits of liberal arts core courses provide critical information and develop a broad range of competencies that afford the basis for more specialized and professionally oriented study. The curriculum is enriched by McGhee’s access to the exceptional cultural, economic, political, creative, technical, and business resources of New York City.

Alongside peers and faculty members, in and outside the classroom, you will engage in, learn from, and lead dynamic intellectual explorations and shared experiences. You will learn to communicate complex ideas effectively through core courses that will help you to develop precise and persuasive writing skills. The core curriculum provides broad conceptual understanding and critical insights—in science, history, culture, and the arts—that strengthen creative and analytical thinking and reasoning abilities. The knowledge and the skills that you will acquire will provide the context and the methodological approaches essential to understanding and to solving the real-world challenges that you will face in almost all professional arenas.

Students who have earned between 40 and 60 McGhee or transfer units and have been enrolled in the Paul McGhee Division for at least one semester, must submit a proposed plan of study that meets the requisites of the major in Applied General Studies. This plan of study is developed in consultation with both the student’s advisor and faculty mentor, and must demonstrate a capacity to integrate academic learning across disciplinary boundaries, a level of student maturity that speaks to independent thought, well-developed organizational skills, and a strong motivation to succeed in reaching the stated goals. The proposal should include an initial list of courses to be taken and a statement that describes and explains the connections among the courses that comprise the intended program of study.