General Education

As a Christian liberal arts university, Simpson’s goal is to prepare undergraduate students for effective service in all arenas of life — family, church, community, and vocation. A Simpson graduate is one who will appreciate an inner life that is holistic (nurturing mind, body, and spirit), and yet who is also responsive to the community in which they live and work.

In order to develop these characteristics in our graduates, the General Education (GE) curriculum, called “The Ascent,” immerses students into a breadth of courses drawn from the traditional disciplines that have been the cornerstone of a liberal arts education.

Undergraduate students fulfill this requirement by taking a variety of courses that introduce them to the rich heritage of the humanities and sciences as well as the testimony revealed in the biblical narrative and Christian traditions. Through this part of the curriculum students explore, discover, critique, and come to marvel at the created order as well as the variety of expressions that characterize the human condition.

Students also gain basic skills in the core competencies of a liberal education including written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, and critical thinking. Core competencies are also embedded into learning outcomes at the program major level. Thus, a student who enters Simpson University as an undergraduate, moves through the general education and program courses, developing core competency skills.