Definition

General education requirements forcing students to take courses outside their major, theoretically creating well-rounded graduates but often just padding credit hours. Philosophy majors learning algebra, engineering students suffering through poetry—everyone's equally miserable.

Example Usage

He spent two years completing gen eds before finally taking a single course in his actual major.

Origin

Shortened form of 'general education,' concept dating to medieval liberal arts curriculum

Fun Fact

The average student completes 30-40% of their degree in gen eds, leading to endless debates about whether they're essential breadth or expensive distractions.

Source: Undergraduate degree requirements

Related Terms

Intermediate

Regents

The governing board of a university system, typically political appointees who make major decisions about institutions they often don't understand. They're to universities what corporate boards are to companies, except with more politicians and fewer people who've actually worked in education.

🎓 Education / Academia
Intermediate

credit by examination

Earning course credit by passing a test rather than attending class, rewarding prior knowledge and self-study. It's the academic equivalent of skipping levels in a video game by demonstrating you already have the skills.

🎓 Education / Academia
Beginner

matriculate

To enroll and begin attending an institution, though it sounds way fancier than just saying 'start college.' Academic terminology loves making simple concepts sound intimidating.

🎓 Education / Academia
Beginner

study abroad

A program where students take classes in another country, theoretically for cross-cultural learning but often functioning as an expensive semester-long vacation with occasional lectures. Parents fund it; Instagram documents it; transcripts barely reflect it.

🎓 Education / Academia
Advanced

reverse transfer

The practice of awarding an associate's degree to students who transferred to a four-year institution before completing their two-year degree. Because apparently, we need participation trophies in higher education too.

🎓 Education / Academia
Beginner

adjunct faculty

Part-time professors hired on a per-course basis with minimal benefits and no job security, essentially the gig economy workers of higher education. They teach the same courses as tenured faculty but for a fraction of the pay, making them academia's favorite cost-cutting measure.

🎓 Education / Academia

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