General Education Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, if you earn a grade of “C” or better. Even though each SUNY unit has a different list of courses that fulfill a Competency Area, once you have satisfied the requirements for the Competency at Farmingdale State University of New York, it is automatically fulfilled at any SUNY institution.

Every private college has General Education Requirements and they are usually very similar to SUNY's. If you know where you want to go, you should familiarize yourself with that school's General Education Requirements. For example, Catholic Colleges usually require several courses in Philosophy and students who are planning to transfer to Catholic Colleges would be smart to take PHI205 - “Ethics” as their Humanities Competency course and perhaps one or two other PHI electives. You may be able to complete SUNY's General Education Requirements and those of other schools by choosing courses wisely.

Electives. You will be required to take a sufficient number of courses so that your credits toward the degree total at least 62. In most cases there will be six elective courses needed to complete the degree. If you take several courses that carry more than three credits, you may need fewer than five electives.