To graduate with either an associate or bachelor degree, Spalding University requires undergraduate students to fulfill a specific number of credit hours in the liberal arts and sciences, including humanities, natural sciences and mathematics, social sciences, religious studies, and communication. These general education requirements comprise the University Studies component for all undergraduate degree programs.

In keeping with Spalding University's long tradition, rigorous study across and within academic disciplines fosters a commitment to life-long learning, service, and the promotion of peace and justice among students and faculty. University Studies courses are designed to give students opportunities to practice habits of mind and heart that emphasize the joy of discovery, animate the creative intellect, and promote the development of personal and intellectual competencies needed for success in any chosen profession.

The curriculum supports the mission of Spalding University as an institution grounded in spiritual values by requiring at least six (6) hours of Religious Studies for all baccalaureate degree programs and at least three (3) hours of Religious Studies for all associate's degree programs.

Through the study of University Studies courses in the liberal arts and sciences, tudents will demonstrate knowledge and competency in the following:

• Critical Thinking
• Effective Communication
• Diverse Perspectives on Social and Cultural Issues
• Scientific and Mathematical Skills
• Understanding Values and Religious Beliefs of Self and Others.

Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion. It can include the ability to identify basic components of explanations, for example, inferences, observations, operational definitions, and interpretations. It can also include the ability to describe and compare competing theories. It results in the ability to organize thought and to construct persuasive arguments for diverse audiences and purposes.

Effective Communication
Effective communication involves both oral and written communication. Oral communication is a prepared, purposeful presentation designed to increase knowledge, to foster understanding, or to promote change in the listeners' attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors. Written communication is the development and expression of ideas in writing. Written communication involves learning to work in many genres and styles. It can involve working with many different writing technologies, and mixing texts, data, and images. Written communication abilities develop through iterative experiences across the curriculum.

Diverse Perspectives on Social and Cultural Issues
Diverse perspectives on social and cultural issues include the ability to understand cultural issues, historical circumstances, and psychological welfare as they relate to problems in contemporary societies. It can include the abilities to describe and analyze events in their historical and social context, and to understand the repercussions of these events. It also includes the ability to identify diversity both within a single cultural framework (such as within a single religion, social class, political organization, or geographical area) as well as diversity between different cultures.

Scientific and Mathematical Skills
Scientific skills are the general knowledge of natural science as it influences daily living and the ability to read and understand basic scientific writing. It includes an understanding of scientific methods of measurement, and the use of scientific formulas to describe natural phenomena. Mathematical skill is the ability to reason and solve quantitative problems from a wide array of authentic contexts and everyday life situations. It includes the abilities to understand graphic representations, and to solve problems using inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, proportional reasoning, and spatial reasoning.

Understanding Values and Religious Beliefs of Self and Others
Religious understanding in a diverse world is an awareness of the diversity of religious experiences and the contexts that produce them, as well as the relationship between one’s own religious views and one’s own historical and cultural contexts. Understanding values includes the ability to reason about right and wrong human conduct. It requires students to assess their own values and the social context of problems, recognize ethical issues in a variety of settings, think about how different ethical perspectives might be applied to ethical dilemmas and consider the ramifications of alternative actions. Students' ethical self-identity evolves as they practice ethical decision-making skills and learn how to describe and analyze positions on ethical issues.

Student attainment of these five University Studies competencies is assessed regularly with course-level Student Learning Outcomes from a range of University Studies courses. These five competencies are not specific to any academic discipline, but are habits of mind that run throughout all University Studies disciplines. The course-level Student Learning Outcomes used to assess the attainment of these five competencies can change from year to year, as different courses are identified to assess each competency, and as faculty make changes in their courses based upon prior assessment results.

For both the baccalaureate degree and associate degree, the required number of credit hours varies depending on the major program. For the baccalaureate degree, the required number of credit hours ranges from 49-58, and for the associate's degree it ranges from 20-34. These required credits hours are distributed across broad areas of knowledge. For the baccalaureate degree, there are minimum required hours in Writing, Communication, Fine Arts, Literature/Linguistics, Philosophy, Mathematics, Natural Science, History, Social/Behavioral Sciences, and Religious Studies. For the associate's degree, there are minimum requirements in Writing, Mathematics, Religious Studies, Natural Science, and Social/Behavioral Sciences. Courses from these broad areas of knowledge are recommended by the faculty in those areas and are approved by the University Curriculum Committee. Individual major programs may, with the approval of the Curriculum Committee, specify that certain University Studies requirements must be met by designated courses from the required University Studies discipline. The required minimum number of hours and specific courses in each of the University Studies areas of knowledge for each major program are designated on the program sheet for that major. 

University Studies for students with an AA or AS degree
Transfer students with an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree will be considered to have completed the baccalaureate University Studies requirement under the following conditions:

• Students must have completed a minimum of 30 unduplicated University Studies credit hours;
• Among these 30 credit hours, there must be at least one course in each of the following areas: Humanities/Fine Arts, Social/Behavioral Sciences; Natural Sciences/Mathematics;
• Depending upon the Spalding academic program the transfer student chooses to enter, additional specific University Studies courses may be required if equivalent courses have not been transferred.
• Students will be advised on their remaining coursework to meet their degree requirements and encouraged to enroll in University Studies courses when appropriate for academic progress.
• The credit hours of transferred University Studies courses count at face value toward the 120 total earned credit hours required for graduation. The fulfillment of the University Studies requirements under this policy is not a waiver of the 120 total earned credit hour graduation requirement.
• This policy does not apply to any Spalding student who earns an Associate’s degree from Spalding.