Student Records Office General Education FAQ's

The list of approved courses can be accessed via the Currently Approved General Education Courses link at the top of the General Education webpage. 

At Westmont, we strongly encourage our students to participate in an off-campus program. There are various types of off-campus programs that will fulfill general education requirements. Contact your academic advisor or the Global Education Office office to learn more.  

Yes! In fact, the foundational courses in many majors will satisfy one of the Common Inquiries requirements at the same time as it fulfills a requirement in the major. There is no restriction on the overlap of major and GE courses.  

Yes! You may want to consider some of the General Education courses that satisfy more than one General Education category. 

Reasoning Abstractly will train you to use general deductive reasoning and the study of abstract (as opposed to specific, concrete) objects. Quantitative and Analytical Reasoning involves analyzing data or applying mathematical (generally algebraic) models. Many mathematical subjects, like calculus, involve both areas of study. Other areas of mathematics, like geometry, involve abstract but quantitative or analytical reasoning. Similarly, many physical sciences make heavy use of data analysis or analytic models without studying the abstract properties of the models or methods of analysis. 

No problem! The course will be treated as an elective. Some majors require you to take multiple courses that fulfill the same GE area. Just make sure that you do not neglect to meet the graduation and major requirements in taking elective courses. 

Four PEA courses (including Fitness for Life) are required. Only one PE Activity course may be taken per semester. 

Varsity athletes may use the PEA class related to their sport one time to fulfill a PEA requirement. 

Yes, subject to a few restrictions. 

1. The course must be taken when Westmont is not in session.

2. The course must carry at least 3 semester or 4 quarter units of credit. (Note that each quarter unit will transfer to Westmont as 2/3 of a semester unit.)

3. The course must be approved for credit at Westmont. The Student Records Office provides a list of pre-approved courses our Transfer Credit webpage. If the course you are considering is not on the list, determine the course's suitability by submitting the pre-approval form and a copy of the course description to the Student Records Office for approval before you enroll in the class. 

4. You must take the course for a letter grade and receive at least a C- for your work. 

5. You may transfer a maximum of 64 units from a community college. 

1. Common Context courses must be taken at Westmont or a similar, approved institution such as a Christian College Consortium school. 

2. You must take the course for a letter grade and receive at least a C- for your work.

3. You may transfer a maximum of 64 units from a community college. 

Westmont will give credit for any AP exam in which a score of 4 or 5 is achieved on the exam. Credit is also given for IB Higher Level (HL) scores of 5, 6, or 7. Students will also be given credit for any appropriate GE area subject to the following restrictions.

1. The Student Records Office must receive official notification of your score directly from the testing agency.

2. Common Context requirements cannot be fulfilled using AP/IB credit.

3. Credit for more than three Common Inquiries requires a student petition submission to the Student Records Office. 

Students continuing the study of a language with which they have previous experience must take the language placement exam to help determine the appropriate Westmont course level. The exam results and the number of years of previous study will be considered in determining the language course level.  

Any modern or ancient language can be used. At Westmont, we offer Spanish, French and German, as well as Greek and Hebrew. In addition, you are free to study other languages such as Arabic, Japanese, or Latin in pre-approved classes at another institution over the summer. American Sign Language is not accepted for GE credit, but the units will be accepted for elective credit.