The Northwest Core is the general education academic program that students complete in conjunction with their major/minor degree program to complete their undergraduate degree. The Core consists of 42-44 credit hours that must be completed for graduation. The Northwest Core courses, combined with the major, minor, and elective courses, total a minimum of 120 credit hours for degree completion.
Northwest Core Academics Requirements
For additional questions about the Northwest core, please contact the Registrar’s Office at registrar@nwmissouri.edu or 660.562.1151.
In order to complete a bachelor's degree, students must take the general education requirements for their specific degree, plus major and/or minor requirements as specified by the department, plus electives as needed to total a minimum of 124 semester hours. There are a minimum of 42 hours of general education courses that must be completed for graduation.
| University Seminar | 1 |
| Written Communication | 6 |
| Required Courses: | |
| Any student with ACT English score of 19 or above | |
| Engl 10-111 Composition | 3 |
| Engl 10-112 Composition | 3 |
| For students with ACT English score of 27 or above | |
| Engl 10-115 Composition | 3 |
| Eng ACT credit upon successful completion of Eng 10-115, except for students with previous English composition credit. |
3 |
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Students who have an ACT English score of 27 or above may elect to take Eng 10-111 and Eng 10-112. Students with credit for Eng 10-111 and an ACT English score of 27 or above may elect to take Eng 10-115 for three hours credit rather than Eng 10-112. No student may receive more than six hours of credit for the freshman composition requirement. NOTE: Eng 10-110 Developmental English is a prerequisite for students who do not meet placement criteria for Eng 10-111. |
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| Oral Communication | 3 |
| Required Course: | |
| Com 29-102 Fundamentals of Oral Communication | 3 |
| Mathematics (Advisement necessary for correct selection) | 3 |
| Required: One of the following courses: | |
| Math 17-110 Finite Mathematics | 4 |
| Math 17-114 General Statistics | 3 |
| Math 17-115 Concepts of Mathematics | 3 |
| Math 17-117 Precalculus | 4 |
| Math 17-118 College Algebra | 3 |
| Math 17-120 Calculus I | 4 |
| Math 17-171 Fundamentals of Mathematics | 3 |
| Political Science | 3 |
| Required Course: | |
| PolS 34-102 Introduction to American Government & Politics | 3 |
| OR PolS 34-201 Missouri Politics (see note below) | 1 |
| NOTE: PolS 34-201 is the required course for students who have credit for an American Government course which did not include a study of the Missouri Constitution. (Students successfully completing PolS 34-203 State and Local Government at Northwest may have PolS 34-201 Missouri Politics waived. See chairperson of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences for approval of this waiver.) | |
| History | 3 |
| Required Course: | |
| Hist 33-155 America-A Historical Survey | 3 |
| Life and Physical Sciences | 8 |
| Required: One course from each area. | |
| Life Sciences | |
| Agri 03-130 Plant Science | 4 |
| Biol 04-102/103 General Biology/Lab | 4 |
| Biol 04-106/107 Principles of Biology/Lab | 4 |
| Bio 04-114/115 General Zoology/Lab | 4 |
| Physical Sciences | |
| Chem 24-112/113 General Chemistry/Lab | 4 |
| Chem 24-114/115 General Chemistry I/Lab | 4 |
| Geol 27-110/111 General Geology/Lab | 4 |
| Geol 27-114/115 General Earth Science/Lab | 4 |
| Phys 25-110/111 General Physics I/Lab | 4 |
| Phys 25-112/113 General Physics II/Lab | 4 |
| Phys 25-120/121 Fundamentals of Classical Physics I/Lab | 5 |
| Phsc 40-102/103 The Physical Sciences /Lab | 4 |
| Phsc 40-122/123 Descriptive Astronomy/Lab | 4 |
| Humanities and Fine Arts | 9 |
| Required: One course from each area. | |
| Literature | |
| Engl 10-220 Introduction to Literature | 3 |
| Humanities/Philosophy | |
| Com 29-235 Introduction to Classical Rhetoric | 3 |
| Hum 26-102 Western Civilization I: The Ancient World to 1500 | 3 |
| Hum 26-103 Western Civilization II: 1500 to the Present | 3 |
| Hum 26-104 The Humanities, The Eastern World | 3 |
| Phil 39-171 Introduction to Philosophy | 3 |
| Phil 39-274, 275, 276 Introduction to Ethics | 3 |
| PolS 34-105 The African World | 3 |
| Fine Arts | |
| Art 13-102 Art Appreciation | 3 |
| Art 13-109 Survey of Art I: Prehistory through Medieval Art | 3 |
| Art 13-111 Survey of Art II: Renaissance to the Present | 3 |
| Mus 19-201 The Enjoyment of Music | 3 |
| Mus 19-202 Jazz Appreciation | 3 |
| PE 22-262 History of Dance | 3 |
| Thea 43-101 Theatre Appreciation | 3 |
| Social and Behavioral Sciences | 6 |
| Required: One course from each area. Education degrees require Psyc 08-303 Educational Psychology. |
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| Social Sciences | |
| Ag 03-102 Introductory Agricultural Economics | 3 |
| Econ 52-130 Survey of Economics | 3 |
| Econ 52-150 General Economics I | 3 |
| Geog 32-101 Introduction to Geography | 3 |
| Soc 35-101 General Sociology | 3 |
| Soc 35-108 General Anthropology | 3 |
| Behavioral Sciences | |
| Psyc 08-103 General Psychology | 3 |
| Psyc 08-303 Educational Psychology | 3 |
| Total General Education Requirements | 42 |
