General Education Models
New Mexico updated its model of general education to focus on the essential skills that are needed by today's college graduates to be successful as they pursue advanced degrees and/or careers. The state has adopted two models: one for applied associate degrees and a second for bachelors and all other associate degrees. Each model is outlined below.
| Fixed 12 |
|---|
| At least 12 credit hours of courses from four of the following six content areas: |
| Communications |
| Mathematics |
| Science |
| Social and Behavioral Science |
| Humanities |
| Creative and Fine Arts |
| Flexible 3 |
| Three credits from the content areas listed above or "other" content areas that the institution deems appropriate. Courses that are part of the "other" area must be certified as meeting the essential skills chosen by the higher education institution offering the course. |
| Fixed 22 |
|---|
| At least 22 credit hours of courses in the following six content areas: |
| Communications (6 credits) |
| Mathematics (3 credits) |
| Science (4 credits) |
| Social and Behavioral Science (3 credits) |
| Humanities (3 credits) |
| Creative and Fine Arts (3 credits) |
| Flexible 9 |
| Nine credits from the content areas listed above or other content areas that the institution deems appropriate. Courses that are part of the "other" area must be certified as meeting the essential skills chosen by the higher education institution offering the course. |
*The 31 credit general education model does not apply to Applied Associates Degrees, please see the Applied Associates Degree General Education model above.
Essential Skills
The defining characteristic of a New Mexico general education course is its focus on essential skills: communication, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, information and digital literacy, and personal and social responsibility. Each of the General Education content areas are associated with three essential skills (see below). In addition, each essential skill is comprised of component skills (see below).
Content Area | Essential Skills Associated with Content Area |
|---|---|
| Communication | Communication Critical Thinking Information and Digital Literacy |
| Mathematics | Communication Critical Thinking Quantitative Reasoning |
| Science | Critical Thinking Personal and Social Responsibility Quantitative Reasoning |
| Social and Behavioral Science | Communication Critical Thinking Personal and Social Responsibility |
| Humanities | Critical Thinking Information and Digital Literacy Personal and Social Responsibility |
| Creative and Fine Arts | Communication Critical Thinking Personal and Social Responsibility |
Communication - Address All of the Component Skills | |
|---|---|
| Genre and Medium Awareness, Application, and Versatility | Identify and communicate in various genres and mediums (oral, written, and digital) using strategies appropriate for the rhetorical situations (i.e., attending to audience, purpose, and context). |
| Strategies for Understanding and Evaluating Messages | Apply strategies such as reading for main points; seeking key arguments, counterarguments, rebuttals; locating supportive documentation for arguments; reading with a specific stakeholder lens; applying a theoretical lens (e.g. cultural, political, economic) to understand and evaluate messages in terms of the rhetorical situation (audience, purpose, and context). |
| Evaluation and Production of Arguments | Evaluate the authority of sources in their own arguments and those of others; distinguish among supported claims, unsupported claims, facts, inferences, and opinions. In arguments, integrate support for their own claims with information from sources that are used and cited ethically and appropriately (using a major citation system such as MLA and APA). |
| Quantitative Reasoning - Address All of the Component Skills | |
|---|---|
| Communication/Representation of Quantitative Information | Express quantitative information symbolically, graphically, and in written or oral language. |
| Analysis of Quantitative Arguments | Interpret, analyze and critique information or a line of reasoning presented by others. |
| Application of Quantitative Models | Apply appropriate quantitative models to real world or other contextual problems. |
| Critical Thinking - Address All of the Component Skills | |
|---|---|
| Problem Setting | Delineate a problem or question. Students state problem/question appropriate to the context. |
| Evidence Acquisition | Identify and gather the information/data necessary to address the problem or question. |
| Evidence Evaluation | Evaluate evidence/data for credibility (e.g. bias, reliability, and validity), probable truth, and relevance to a situation. |
| Reasoning/Conclusion | Develop conclusions, solutions, and outcomes that reflect an informed, well-reasoned evaluation. |
| Personal and Social Responsibility - Address 2 of the 5 Component Skills | |
|---|---|
| Intercultural reasoning and intercultural competence | Explain a range of personal, social, cultural, or social justice issues as they relate to one’s own or others’ perspectives. |
| Sustainability and the natural and human worlds | Examine the relationship among environmental, socio-cultural, political, and economic systems as they interact with and affect the sustainability of the natural and human worlds. |
| Ethical Reasoning | Describe shared ethical responsibilities or moral norms among members of a group. Explain ethical issues or propose solutions based on ethical perspectives or theories. |
| Collaboration skills, teamwork and value systems | Demonstrate effective and ethical collaboration in support of meeting identified group goals. (Accountability is implied with “ethical.”) |
| Civic discourse, civic knowledge and engagement – local and global | Explain and support one’s own position on specific local or global issues while recognizing that there may be multiple valid perspectives. |
| Information and Digital Literacy - Address 3 of the 4 Component Skills | |
|---|---|
| Authority and Value of Information | Recognize the interdependent nature of the authority and value of information and use this knowledge ethically when selecting, using, and creating information. |
| Digital Literacy | Understand, communicate, compute, create, and design in digital environments. |
| Information Structures | Select, use, produce, organize, and share information employing appropriate information formats, collections, systems, and applications. |
| Research as Inquiry | Engage in an iterative process of inquiry that defines a problem or poses a question and through research generates a reasonable solution or answer. |
Approved General Education Courses
Courses certified under the previous General Education model are considered approved under the new model until May 2021.
Institutions have until May 2021 to recertify courses that were approved to be part of the previous General Education model. Courses that are not recertified by May 2021 will be removed from the General Education Curriculum. Lists of courses approved to be part of the current and previous General Education models can be found to the right.
Adding Courses to the New Mexico General Education Curriculum
To add a course to the statewide general education curriculum, complete and submit an application using the Academic Affairs Service Application (see link to the right). The application includes three 400 word narratives that address how the course integrates the essential skills (and component skills) associated with the course's content area (see above). The component skills and how many must be addressed for each essential skill are listed above.
Applications must be submitted on or before the submission deadline for the New Mexico Curriculum & Articulation Committee (NMCAC) meeting at which the institution would like the course considered.
Approved Courses - Previous Model
Approved Courses - Current Model (updated 11/14/2024)
Application Form (this form is provided for internal institutional use and will no longer be accepted by HED)
Apply Using the Academic Affairs Service Application
NMCAC Dates
If you have questions about the New Mexico General Education Curriculum, please contact the Academic Affairs and Policy Division at articulation.transf@hed.nm.gov or 505-231-6754.
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