General Education (GE) is a central part of every student’s academic experience. Advisors help students make intentional choices that support their academic progress, major requirements, and long-term goals.
What do you need to do?
The LOPERs (Learning Objectives/Program Essential Requirements) General Education Program consists of 11 LOPER categories that span foundational academic skills (LOPERs 1-4), broad knowledge of the arts & sciences (LOPERs 5-8), and dispositions that prepare students for responsible, productive lives in a democratic, multicultural society (LOPERs 9-11).
Credit Hours: 30-31 hours. Students must complete 3 credit-hours in each LOPER category 1 through 10. LOPER 8 (Natural Science) may be satisfied with a 3- or 4-credit hour course. LOPER 11 (Wellness) is optional, but courses in this category may be taken if:
Required by a major or minor program
A student needs additional GE credit hours to reach 30 after LOPERs 1-10 are completed. This can happen if a student takes any courses that are in two LOPER categories.
Stellic makes it easy to track students’ progress through the GE program and plan courses in future semesters. In the course planning feature, it is possible to plan for a GE course in a LOPER category without identifying a specific course. Contact the Registrar’s Office at unkstellic.unk.edu or consult the following FAQ pages for questions about Stellic details.
On a student’s Stellic Progress screen, you will see which LOPER categories have been completed or waived as well as whether the student has completed at least 30 GE credit hours. A couple of important situations to be aware of:
Some courses fulfill two LOPER categories, so it is possible for students to complete LOPERS 1-10 and fall short of 30 GE credit hours. In this case, students may take courses from any LOPER category, including LOPER 11 (Wellness), to reach 30 GE credit hours.
Students admitted to UNK with an Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS), or Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution have automatically fulfilled UNK’s General Studies program requirements. Such students must still complete any GE courses required within their program of study.
When students transfer courses to UNK, they may be counted toward GE requirements in two ways:
Using the UNK Transfer Guide, the Registrar transfers a course in as the official UNK equivalent course that happens to fulfill a LOPER category requirement. Stellic will show the transferred course counting toward that LOPER.
You or your advisee may request that a transferred course fulfills a LOPER category requirement by completing the Application for a General Education Course Substitution form. At minimum, the course title, prefix, number, and institution the course is transferred from are needed. It is helpful if the course description and/or syllabus is accessible.
The Director of General Education authorizes course substitutions in the second case. Decisions are based on whether there appears to be sufficient overlap between the course material/objectives and the pertinent LOPER category learning objectives.
Sometimes, a course that transfers in as a non-GE UNK course may still qualify for substitution if the course met a GE requirement at the prior institution. Here, the Director of General Education considers if there is sufficient overlap between the LOPER category learning objectives and those in the prior institution’s GE category.
After course substitutions, students must still complete a minimum of 30 GE credit hours. This can come into play when a 1- or 2-credit hour course is substituted for a LOPER requirement. While the LOPER category is fulfilled, the minimum number of GE credit hours required for graduation does not change.
Students who started at UNK before the 2025-26 academic year were required to take LOPR 126 to fulfill their LOPER 1 (First-Year Seminar) requirement. This course is no longer offered. These students may have their LOPER 1 requirement waived if they meet one of the following conditions before graduation:
The student passes LNSK 103 (Foundations for Learning)
Students who started at UNK in the Fall 2025 semester or later are required to take LOPR 101 to fulfill their LOPER 1 (First-Year Seminar) requirement. Transfer students may have their LOPER 1 requirement waived if they meet one of the following conditions:
The student has transferred in at least 18 GE credit hours
The student has transferred in at least 24 credit hours, no matter the course topics
NOTE: Students who started at UNK as first-time freshmen are not eligible for this waiver.
If a student retakes LOPR 101 (First-Year Seminar) in a section with a different topic than before, the grade replacement in the student’s transcript must be authorized by the Director of General Education.
