FMU’s educational goals are sustained by the tenets and mores of the classic liberal arts tradition and seek to provide all baccalaureate degree students with the following:

• Proficiency in listening, reading, speaking, and writing
• Proficiency in the use of quantitative skills and scientific method
• Ability to access and use information
• Introductory level of knowledge in a variety of disciplines in the Arts and Sciences
• Understanding and appreciation of the Western heritage and cultures of the United States and the world
• Basic computer skills
• Global awareness and tolerance for a diversity of ideas
• Sense of individual responsibility and ability to work cooperatively
• Lifelong love for inquiry and learning

FMU’s General Education requirements are intertwined with our stated goals and seek to ensure that all students are firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition. The foundational classes, which most students complete before advancing into the more focused academic work demanded by their majors, are designed to give students an introduction to the broad areas of knowledge essential to a successful life and career.

The General Education program provides students with a broad-based education by offering them a choice of courses from the humanities, the social sciences, the laboratory sciences and basic communications.

Through this program, students begin to acquire an awareness of the diverse cultures of the past and present. They also develop communication, conceptualization, and analytical and critical thinking skills.