Navigating IDEAs in Action
Students through Spring 2025
Overview for New Students
First-Year Foundations
If you enter Carolina in your first year, you will need to meet all five of these requirements. The first four courses must be taken in your first two semesters. If you transfer to Carolina, you may be exempt from completing three of these requirements.
| Requirement | Credits | Code |
|---|---|---|
| College Thriving * | 1 | FY-THRIVE |
| First-Year Seminars & Launches * | 3 | FY-SEMINAR, FY-LAUNCH |
| Data Literacy Lab * | 1 | FY-DATA |
| Writing at the Research University, ENGL 105 | 3 | FY-WRITING |
| Global Language | 3 to 4 | GLBL-LANG |
* Transfer students who have earned at least 24 hours of college course credit from another institution (after graduating from high school) are exempt from these requirements.
Focus Capacities
To build upon your First Year Foundations, you will need to take courses to meet each of the following nine Focus Capacities. A course can only be used to meet one Focus Capacity. If there is more than one option for a course, you will need to choose which Focus Capacity you want to fulfill.
| Requirement | Credits | Gen Ed Attribute |
|---|---|---|
| Aesthetic & Interpretive Analysis | 3 | FC-AESTH |
| Creative Expression, Practice, & Production | 3 | FC-CREATE |
| Engagement with the Human Past | 3 | FC-PAST |
| Ethical & Civic Values | 3 | FC-VALUES |
| Global Understanding & Engagement | 3 | FC-GLOBAL |
| Natural Scientific Investigation | 3 | FC-NATSCI |
| Power, Difference, & Inequality | 3 | FC-POWER |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 3 | FC-QUANT |
| Ways of Knowing | 3 | FC-KNOWING |
| Empirical Investigation Lab * | 1 | FC-LAB |
* You will also need to take an Empirical Investigation Lab that is associated with one of your nine Focus Capacity courses.
Reflection & Integration
To put your learning into action both inside and outside the classroom, you will need to complete these five Reflection and Integration requirements before you graduate.
| Requirement | Credits | Gen Ed Attribute |
|---|---|---|
| Research & Discovery | 1 to 3 | RESEARCH |
| High-Impact Experience Study Abroad Internship Service Learning Performance Undergraduate Learning Assistant COIL General | 1 to 3 | HIGH IMPACT |
| Lifetime Fitness | 1 | LIFE-FIT |
| Communication Beyond Carolina | 3 | COMMBEYOND |
| Interdisciplinary | 3 | INTERDISCI |
| Campus Life experience | N/A | CAMPUS-EXP |
Disciplinary Distribution
All students must take at least one general education course in each of the three major divisions of the College of Arts and Sciences:
- Humanities and Fine Arts
- Mathematics and Natural Sciences
- Social and Behavioral Sciences
The courses may come from any of these requirements:
- FY-Seminar/FY-Launch
- Focus Capacity
- Research and Discovery
- High Impact Experience
Supplemental Education
For a BA degree, you will also need to fulfill the Supplemental Education requirement by doing one of the following:
- Complete a second major
- Complete a minor
- Complete three courses numbered above 199 in a department outside your major
Overlapping Courses
Some courses may be used to fulfill more than one General Education requirement.
| A course that fulfills | May also fulfill one or more of the following |
|---|---|
| FY-Seminar or FY-Launch |
|
| Focus Capacity |
|
| Research and Discovery |
|
| High-Impact Experience |
|
| Communication Beyond Carolina |
|
Information for Transfer Students
If you applied to UNC as a transfer student, there are a few elements of the IDEAs in Action curriculum that will be different for you.
| If you transferred to UNC with… | You are exempt from… |
|---|---|
| At least 24 hours of completed college coursework (earned after graduating high school) |
|
| An AA or AS degree from a North Carolina Community College | All IDEAs in Action requirements, except:
|
Information for North Carolina Early College Students
If you graduated from a North Carolina Early College (also known as a Cooperative Innovative High School) with an associate degree and applied to Carolina as a first-year student, there are a few elements of the IDEAs in Action curriculum that will be different for you.
| You are exempt from… | Although not required, you may elect to enroll in these First-Year Foundation courses… |
|---|---|
All IDEAs in Action requirements, except:
| College Thriving First-Year Seminar or First-Year Launch Data Literacy Lab |
Degree Requirements
In addition to the IDEAs in Action curriculum, to complete a degree at UNC-Chapel Hill you must also complete:
- Requirements for a major
- Supplemental education – for BA degrees only
- At least 120 credits
- At least a 2.000 cumulative grade point average
- A minimum of 45 credits earned from UNC-Chapel Hill courses
A list of majors, minors, and their requirements are available in the Undergraduate Catalog.