General education program transfer guide
- The WMU General Education Program requires a minimum of 37 hours, not counting the baccalaureate-level writing course proficiency.
- To complete the freshman-sophomore requirements, transfer students from Northwestern Michigan College must present transcripts that indicate Michigan Transfer Agreement has been satisfied or have completed 29-31 hours from the NMC courses listed below.
- No more than two courses from one department may be used to satisfy distribution requirements.
- Proficiencies #1 and #3 (college-level writing and mathematics/quantitative reasoning) must be satisfied before one may register for 3000 and higher level WMU courses.
- After transferring, students fulfilling #2 above will need only to complete the junior-senior requirement of two (2) 3000-4000 level courses (6-8 hours) in the distribution areas and Proficiency 2 at WMU.
- See the current WMU Undergraduate Catalog for a detailed explanation of this program.
Distribution Areas
One course required from each area, including two at WMU (per #5 above):
- Area I, Fine Arts, (3-4 hours minimum) ART 100, 111, 112; ENG 240, 267; HUM 101, 102; MUS 110, 111, 129
- Area II, Humanities, (3-4 hours minimum) ENG 210, 241, 242, 254, 256, 262, 263, 266; HST 101, 102; PHL 101, 121, 201, 202
- Area III, The U.S.: Cultures and Issues, (3-4 hours minimum) HST 111, 112, 211, 212, 213; PLS 101
- Area IV, Other Cultures and Civilizations, (3-4 hours minimum) ANT 113; HUM 116; PHL 122
- Area V, Social and Behavioral Sciences, (3-4 hours minimum) BUS 101; ECO 201, 202; GEO 101, 108, 109; HST 225, 228, 235; PLS 132, 211, 233; PSY 101; SOC 101
- Area VI, Natural Sciences with Lab, (4-5 hours minimum) AST 109, 119; BIO 106, 110, 115, 116; CHM 101, 150; ENV 103, 104, 111, 112; GEO 105 & 105L; PHY 105, 121, 221
- Area VII, Natural Science and Technology: Applications and Implications, (3-4 hours minimum) MFG 103
- Area VIII, Health and Well-being, (2 hours minimum) N/A
Proficiencies
Required minimums noted:
1. College-level writing course (one course): ENG 111, 112, 220
2. Baccalaureate-level writing course: Will be done at Western Michigan University
3. College-level mathematics or quantitative reasoning course (one course): MTH 120, 121, 122, 131, 141
4. Enhance or develop another proficiency in one of these seven areas (hour minimums noted):
- Advanced writing, (3-4 hours) N/A
- Mathematics/quantitative reasoning, (3-4 hours) MTH 141
- Critical thinking, (3-4 hours) PHL 105
- Oral communication, (3-4 hours) COM 111
- American Sign Language, (3-4 hours) N/A
- Computer programming and applications, (3-4 hours) MTH 116
- Foreign language-two semesters of college-level study, (6-8 hours) ASL 101, 102, 103; FRN 101, 102, 201, 202; SPN 101, 102, 201, 202; GRM 101, 102, 201, 202
Revised Final: 2023