General Education

General Education at William & Mary

Where Liberal Arts & Sciences Meet Discovery

William & Mary's Royal Charter established a vision for "a certain place of universal study." More than 330 years later, that commitment to the liberal arts and sciences remains central to a W&M experience.

General education here isn’t a checklist of courses to complete. And you don’t have to choose between the breadth of a liberal arts education and the depth of a major R1 research university. You get both.

Here, you will intentionally explore big ideas and connect knowledge across disciplines. Because the questions shaping our future don’t arrive neatly labeled by discipline. So why should your education?

These ideas form the core of W&M’s general education courses known as the College (or COLL) Curriculum. Every W&M undergraduate shares this experience, regardless of major.

Learn broadly. Think deeply.

The most consequential problems demand people who can connect ideas and think for themselves. Climate change requires science, policy and ethics. Artificial intelligence requires computing, mathematics and an understanding of people and society. Public health requires biology, data, communication and an understanding of culture.

Through W&M’s COLL curriculum, you might study biology alongside philosophy. Computer science alongside history. Economics alongside environmental science.

The liberal arts and sciences bring together the study of people, ideas, cultures, societies and the natural world. They teach you to think critically, approach questions from different perspectives and investigate evidence. Consider not only what we know, but how we know it.

With your major, you'll develop the expertise and mindset for whatever career path you pursue. Through your COLL courses, you’ll understand how that major can be used in unique and impactful ways. That is the promise of a liberal arts and sciences education at an R1 research university.

Liberal Arts & Sciences: Building Better Futures

9/10

employers value a liberal arts education

Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU)
61 _%

felt more fulfilled after discussion-based classes

Zakaria, 2015

Reported by grads who took them in their first two years of college.
96 _%

employers want graduates who can disagree well

Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), 2025
^# 1

skill employers want: writing well

NACE, 2024

How Does the COLL Curriculum Work?

The COLL curriculum makes up about a quarter of the 120 credits needed to graduate. Early COLL courses invite you to engage deeply with texts, data and ideas. Later courses place knowledge in global, cross-cultural and contemporary contexts. By your senior year, you’ll bring what you’ve learned together through original research in COLL 400.

Through the COLL curriculum, you leave W&M with more than a major. You leave knowing how to learn, how to question and how to connect. You leave with the freedom to truly think for yourself.

Flexible On Purpose

COLL isn't organized by topic. It's built around skills and knowledge domains, so you choose what interests you and build critical thinking from day one.
Continuity

Over four years, you explore not just more material, but different ways of knowing, graduating with the critical thinking, communication and leadership skills employers want.
Finish with Original Work

Every W&M undergraduate completes a senior capstone — original research, independent study or an honors project — that's entirely their own.

What Will My Four Years Look Like?

The examples below represent one path through the COLL Curriculum, but there is no required sequence for completing the courses.

A student raises their hand in the foreground of a roundtable class discussion

First year: Ask big questions

Start with small seminars built around real inquiry. Before you declare a major, you'll explore ideas across disciplines and find out what genuinely excites you. Sign up for favorite classes like Sports & Economics: COLL 150 or Introduction to Reality: COLL 150

Three students standing outside in the spring painting on tall easels

Sophomore & Junior years: Build your range

Choose electives across three broad knowledge domains — an opportunity to follow your curiosity into territory you might never have explored otherwise. Explore popular courses like Spiritual But Not Religious: COLL 200 or Dance, Poetry, Art & Social Justice: COLL 350

Six students pose in front of the Colosseum in Rome

Junior year: Expand your perspective

Courses designed to push you beyond your own frame of reference — global contexts, cultural difference, the kind of thinking that doesn't happen in a bubble. Choose from classes like Witch Hunting: COLL 300 (HIST) and Worlds of Music: COLL 300 (MUSC)

A student in a lab coat, blue gloves and goggles fills a test tube in a science lab

Senior year: Make your mark

Every W&M student completes a capstone — original research, independent study or an honors project. You leave with something with your name on it.

How the COLL Curriculum Builds Career-Ready Graduates

The National Association of Colleges and Employers surveys thousands of employers every year to identify the competencies that make graduates career-ready — these lists consistently include critical thinking, communication, global fluency and leadership, as well as others strengthened throughout the COLL curriculum.

W&M's COLL curriculum is structured to build exactly these skills, progressively and intentionally, across your four years here.

Explore W&M's career competencies

Caribbean History Meets Public Health

My [COLL] course taught me to view the history of the Caribbean through the experiences of marginalized groups and that framing has influenced how I think about health inequity in my public health classes.

Libby Hellman ’26

Where Will Your Curiosity Take You?

Curiosity is personal. Each student connects with their inspiration in different ways. That’s why W&M’s COLL courses are as varied and rich as our student body.

COLL 200: Victorian Animal Dreams, for example, explores Victorian literature and history, but also intersects with philosophy, biology and anthropology.